|
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
By Joginder Tuteja, September 30, 2009 - 15:52 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Tisca Chopra, Shahana Goswami, Deepti Naval, Paresh Rawal, Naseruddin Shah, Sanjay Suri and Raghuveer Yadav
Director: Nandita Das
Producer: Percept Picture Company
Music: Rajat Dholakia & Piyush Kanojia
THE FILM
Firaaq doesn't try to give any solutions - it can't and it doesn't have to. It plain and simple tells the story about what happened to the people of Gujarat post the riots. How it impacted people across all segments of society - the lower class, the middle class as well as the upper class. In this context, Nandita Das gets it right because she makes a statement that communal violence doesn't pick people as per their social status. It may impact them differently but it impacts them all.
So there is Sanjay Suri, an electronics showroom owner, who is afraid of his identity since he is a Muslim. At number of instances, he has to either hang his head in shame or hide his religion. There is Shahana Goswami, a Muslim mehendi artist, whose house has been burnt in riots and she suspects the family of her best friend, who is a Hindu, to have done that.
Deepti Naval is a silent middle class Hindu woman who inflicts physical wounds on her everyday. Reason? She couldn't gather courage to open the doors of her house to a woman who was being chased during the riots. Her husband Paresh Rawal and brother-in-law have been criminals too by being a shop looter and a rapist respectively during the riots.
Then there is Naseeruddin Shah, a poor aging classical musician, who is silently observing all the mayhem around him. There is a bunch of young Muslim men who are trying to catch hold of a weapon to get even at the Hindu killers. And then finally there is this young boy who is seeing it all.
All these stories run in parallel in a span of 24 hours and what's common in all of these is the 'fear factor'. In fact Firaaq truly stands for 'fear factor' because it pretty much makes a statement that after affects of riots remain with you forever.
Amongst the various tracks, the one which makes maximum impression is the Sanjay Suri-Tisca Chopra track while the weakest of all is that of Naseeruddin Shah and Raghubir Yadav. Frankly, it bores!
Nandita unfolds the story well by incorporating elements of drama and thrills well into the narrative. Watch out for the scene where Sanjay Suri gives it back to the cop by declaring that he is a Muslim. Or the one when Shahana has the final confrontation with her friend. The best of all though is the chase sequence between a cop and Shahana's husband. It reminds of a similar edge-of-the-seat sequence that was seen in Black Friday.
Apart from these scenes though, the film moves at its own slow pace. There are no complains though because this is what the genre of Firaaq demands. The film's ending is abrupt as well but as said earlier, Firaaq couldn't have been concluded with a resolution.
PACKAGING
DVD of Firaaq comes in a regular paper and plastic case
DURATION
The film's duration is 100 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Making of the Film
There is just one word to describe the 'making' segment of Firaaq - Boring! Even though the duration of this segment is short and takes viewer on to the sets of the film as the shooting is under progress, it appears to be quite long. Agreed that the subject of the film deals with a serious issue but then the making by itself comes across as so serious that it only puts you of to a good degree. There are bytes by cast and crew members about what made them choose the film but frankly, if you haven't seen the film, then avoid this segment and head straight into it. It would make you watch Firaaq with a much open mind!
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- Language (Hindi, English, Urdu, Gujarati)
- 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 299/=
CONCLUSION
From the impact making perspective, Firaaq isn't exactly heart rendering or the kind that won't make you sleep in the night. It doesn't even result in you questioning yourself or your conscience. It's a story well told and that's about it. The film's target audience is quite limited though. In the end, it is for those who love to watch films that have a 'festival' tag attached to them or the kind that don't necessarily entertain in a conventional Bollywood setup but make you revisit the horrific incidents of the past.
 
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
