Firaaq (2008)

Chronicles the devastating impact on vulnerable Muslims in Gujarat after riots.

Director:

Nandita Das

Writers:

Nandita Das (story), Shuchi Kothari (story)

Stars:

Inaamulhaq, Nassar, Shahana Goswami

19 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Inaamulhaq	...	Munna
Nassar	...	Grave digger (as Nasser)
Shahana Goswami	...	Muneera
Nawazuddin Siddiqui	...	Hanif (as Nowaz)
Paresh Rawal	...	Sanjay
Honey Chhaya	...	Bapuji
Deepti Naval	...	Arati
Dilip Joshi	...	Deven
Kavan Antani	...	Arati's son
Naseeruddin Shah	...	Khan Saheb
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Karim
Sanjay Suri	...	Sameer Shaikh
Tisca Chopra	...	Anuradha Desai
Suchita Trivedi	...	Ketki (as Sucheta Trivedi)
Pranav Subramaniya	...	Ketki's son 1

Storyline

Following riots in Gujarat, Arati experiences guilt when she did not open her door to shelter an injured Muslim woman. Her husband, Sanjay, had looted merchandise from shops, and his brother, Devan, had even sexually molested Muslim women. A young lad, Mohsin, leaves the safety of an army-guarded camp to look for his father. Meanwhile Music maestro, Jahangir Khan, faces isolation. Sameer Shaikh and his Hindu wife, Anuradha, decide to re-locate to Delhi. Muneera suspects her Hindu friend, Jyoti, of setting her house on fire, while biased police officers continue oppressing Muslims and five Muslim men find a gun and attempt to seek vengeance.

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Plot Keywords:

muslim | riot | hindu | gujarat | police | 

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Taglines:

A work of fiction, based on a thousand true stories.

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the film, Paresh Rawal dialogues to Sameer sheikh that "jai ne Mehta ma gathiya kha" , where Mehta farsan is actually a famous place for Gujarati food item called 'gathiya'

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Connections

Featured in 55th Idea Filmfare Awards (2010)

User Reviews

Firaaq is a good movie

From its very opening scene of a truck dumping dozens of corpses at a graveyard site for mass burial, Nandita Das makes it clear that her directorial debut, Firaaq is not going to be an easy watch. A fictionalised account of true stories set one month after the horrific communal riots of Gujarat in 2002, Firaaq focuses on a handful of ordinary characters whose lives are changed irreparably by the riots. There's an affluent mixed-religion couple (played by Tisca Chopra and Sanjay Suri) who prepares to shift to Delhi because the Muslim husband is afraid of what might happen next. An auto-rickshaw driver whose house is burned down, and his wife (played by Shahana Goswami) who suspects her Hindu friend's husband did it. An optimistic elderly Muslim musician (played by Naseeruddin Shah) who ultimately resigns himself to the fact that no music can hope to calm this rage. A passive, abused wife of a bigoted Hindu (played by Deepti Naval) who is haunted by guilt for not opening her door to save a woman running from the mob. And a little Muslim boy in search of his father, unaware that he's been orphaned in the carnage. These stories interconnect occasionally in a manner that makes it clear that victims, perpetrators and silent observes are all connected somehow. Director Nandita Das steers away from political overtones, choosing instead to tell a dramatic story about everyday people and the repercussions of violence. Interestingly, you don't actually see any incidents of violence in Firaaq, but its aftermath can be felt throughout the film, in the fear, anguish, loss and anger felt by those left in its wake. Firaaq is an important film because Das never shies away from showing the ugly side of her characters. I'm reminded of a disturbing scene in the film in which Paresh Rawal's character gleefully asks his younger brother if he enjoyed a gangrape he'd participated in. Barely moments later, his brother turns to watch a TV news report in which a Muslim woman is seen complaining that they were robbed of their dignity during the riots, to which he spitefully comments that they had little dignity to begin with. It's scenes like these that deliver the full impact of this powerful film, and Das assembles an ensemble of some of the finest actors who bring her characters to life. If there's a problem with Firaaq, it's the fact that despite her best intentions, Das fails to bridge the gap between the audience and her characters. It's unquestionably sad what happens to these people, you know their lives have changed forever, yet there's a certain unexplained distance that never lets you "feel" the pain yourself. Remember, the most compelling films are the ones that transport you to the centre of the drama, and make you a participant in the action. Firaaq is a noble film, an admirable debut, but you don't feel the pain. There is also the issue of the affected English dialogues in the Sanjay Suri-Tisca Chopra track, and the somewhat meandering nature of the Naseeruddin Shah track. Overlook these faults, however, and make it a point to watch Firaaq. It's an unsettling film, one that throws up difficult questions and demands urgent responses.Firaaq is not perfect, but it's much better than anything else you're likely to have watched recently.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi Gujarati Urdu English

Release Date:

20 March 2009 (India)

Also Known As:

Apohorismos

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$274,637

Company Credits

Production Co:

Percept Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color