Firaaq

Nandita Das, an actress known for her off-beat choice of movies and remarkable acting skills, wears the cap of a director and gives us a sensitive & thoughtful movie based on aftermaths of the Gujarat Riots, which unfortunately happened in 2002. Last year we had a brilliant movie "Mumbai Meri Jaan" which talked about different people who were victims or a part of Mumbai Train Blasts. On the similar lines "Firaaq" (means Separation or Judaai) tells stories of few people, their fears and the trauma they face after one month of the miss-happening in the state.

Though it may not be liked by mainstream viewers for its artistic treatment, but for a thinking viewer, "Firaaq" has depth, emotions and power to make you reconsider, what is the difference between two religions which causes so much hatred and bloodshed? Nandita Das succeeds in generating the empathy impact in the viewer as he witnesses the sequences on the screen. The film and its sensitive direction can make you understand the minute distinction in the words 'sympathy' and 'empathy'. You can feel the pain of victims as if it was all happening around you. And the credit goes to the intelligently written, well directed and brilliantly cinematographed scenes throughout the movie.

The first scene itself is the most important and impactful scene of the movie which is capable of generating chills down your spine. It's a graveyard scene where a loaded truck arrives giving more work to the grave diggers who already have enough bodies to bury together. In fact, this is the most powerful scene out of all the movies made on communal riots till date. The last time I felt this way watching anything on screen was when I saw Govind Nihalani's "Tamas" many years back. So hats off to Nandita for this particular scene.

The movie then moves into different stories of people who witnessed the massacre, and are still haunted by the memory of those black days. Deepti Naval, as a middle class housewife is trapped in the pool of guilt of not helping the persons who came to her house for shelter. And now she is punishing herself each new day, thinking about her cowardly act. Paresh Rawal as her husband is a cunning materialistic person who is more interested in taking advantage of the communal tensions in the city. Shahana Goswami and her friend both earn by inscribing mehndi on the hands of ladies in marriages. How a simple "bindi", saves them both from being treated otherwise is worth watching. A group of men manage to get a pistol with only one bullet and that also goes wasted in their own fight. A child gets lost in the big town, roaming around helplessly after all his family members are killed. The story of this child also gets connected with Deepti Naval and she takes him to her home. The conversation scenes between Deepti and the child are the most emotional ones in the movie which prove the immense talent Nandita Sen has got.

However there are two stories which stand out and have a lasting impression on the viewer. One is about a Hindu-Muslim couple (Sanjay Suri & Tisca Chopra) who have decided to leave the city after their store was looted and destroyed. Their confrontation dialogues and two minds situation has been shot realistically which touches your soul.

The other moving story is about a true old classical singer (Naseeruddin Shah), who still believes that everything is at peace out there and nothing has changed. Raghuvir Yadav is a person serving him for years but he has not got guts to tell Naseer about the brutal killings. Jagjit Singh giving playback to the classical singing of Nasser brought back the memories of "Mirza Ghalib" once again. And when Naseer is asked what he can do to stop this, he rightly says with grief, "Saat Suron Mein Itni Taaqat Kahan Ki Yeh Vehshat Rok Saken". Very True! Here I would also like to mention a scene I found both emotional and disturbing to a great extent. As Naseer and Raghuvir pass through a road sitting in an autoricksaw, Nasser suddenly asks the driver to stop and comes out looking for something. Actually he is looking for an ancient and ages old mazaar which is not there where it was from years. Raghuvir calms him down explaining that we are on the wrong road and everything is fine. This is another well conceived scene equivalent to the first seen in the start.

In acting department everyone is there doing their part perfectly and are also well suited for their roles. Out of all, Naseeruddin Shah & Sanjay Suri stand out with their true to life performances and are a treat to watch. Cinematography is of first rate and plays a major part in giving the realistic touch to the movie.

"Firaaq" actually, should be seen more as an artistic and thought provoking docu-drama than as a mainstream Hindi movie. After the impressive & shocking start, your expectations rise sky high, which get fulfilled to some extent. But you also feel a little less satisfied as the movie finishes. That deprives "Firaaq" to be called an ultimate masterpiece, but still it is a movie which should be watched by everyone as a compulsion and you cannot afford to miss it.

That is why it also enters my "Movies To See Before You Die List" too.

So don't miss it as it is an intelligent and well made gift from the charming Nandita Sen. Would love to see her more works very soon.

This movie is worth its efforts to document the tragic events of 2002 riots in Gujarat, with the main personality behind this project being Nandita Das, who happens to be the director besides being one of the writers, definitely made this movie without having an eye at the box-office. The movie effectively portrays, people from various strata of society getting affected. Such communal riots are not new to India, although their frequency is gradually on decline since independence, but the mere concern to empathize with the victims through this project is laudable, irrespective of the trigger for the same being the burnt railway coach at Godhra. Whenever future generations wants to know and visualize about this incident, then this movie will definitely play an important role along with some other movies like Parzania on the same event.

"Firaaq' is a non-commercial low budget movie which marks the debut of Nandita Das as a director; and with her directorial venture, she proves she's even a better film-maker than a stunning actress. The film presents the aftermath of Gujrat riots of 2002, and was also said to be banned. The story is seen through a set of characters, especially the Muslims, and their changed lives after the riots. The dialogues and the narration of the story just holds you tight to your seats; and what you see are the rewarding performances from the distinguished performers like Naserudddin Shah, Raghuvir Yadav, Nawazzudin Siddhiquie, and Deepti Naval. The only fault I felt in the movie was though the story gets mounted well, the conclusion feels a bit weak and incomplete and leaves you with a feeling that something is left out.

Rating : 2 stars out of 4

What worked:

• plots and subplots with the stories of violence and stereotypes in the lives of many individuals in Mumbai
• the movie has some of the fine actors and their performances are worth praising

What did not work:

• some plot holes and uneven story telling; not complaining but could have been better I suppose
• the movie focused mainly from one religious perspective and the scenes seemed repetitive and so cliche, adding few newness to the characters and narration

Final verdict: Recommended.

The first attempt of veteran indie actress Nandita Das in directing is a spellbinding film which takes the Gujurat Riots of 2002 as its backdrop. We are introduced to four main plots - a Gujarati family complicit in the riots, one mixed marriage (Muslim male, Hindu female), one Muslim classical singer and one couple who return home after the riots have ended. And caught up in these people is an orphan who has lost his parents and is roaming around the city.

The individual stories of the film are excellently done, themes of inter-religious marriages, abusive husbands, guilt of not helping Muslims, victims turning to violence, police brutality, middle class hypocrisy (One scene was excellent: A wedding is taking place. The bride is being decorated by a Muslim who has had her house burnt. And the bride is cussing how these "bloody Muslims" have ruined her marriage) are very poignantly dealt with.

But the movie feels lacking a thematic closure. It was as if Nandita Das got tired and said "Ok, thats it! 101 minutes, thats all the runtime I can give. I just don't want to connect all these themes!" and left the film. Which is what just what I wanted - a sort of closure. Right now, Firaaq is movie which just gives us a glimpse of these people lives without letting us know what will happen to them in the future. That is something which IMO, should have been shown.

None the less, this is a fine piece of Indian cinema - a far cry from the banal Bollywood dance numbers, masala filled movies. Thumbs up for the effort!