Firaaq' is well-intended, but lacks punch

Firaaq
Director: Nandita Das
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Deepti Naval, Sanjay Suri, Tisca Chopra, Nowaz, Shahana Goswami and Raghuvir Yadav
Rating: ** ½

Nandita Das chooses to make a brave debut as director with Firaaq. As an actor, she has always been known to push the envelope but goes a step further in her first effort behind the camera and chooses a subject that needs immense maturity and deft handling at the helm to be her maiden attempt as a filmmaker.

For a first-timer, she definitely does a good job. Firaaq, however, could have worked wonders with some more convincing writing and a quicker pace.

The film, set in riot-stricken Gujarat in 2002, is made in a parallel-screenplay format, where different plots unfold simultaneously but independent of each other. People in different situations, trying to grapple with the aftereffects of the carnage and mayhem after ‘Godhra’.

If you are forced to think about Mumbai Meri Jaan(MMJ) as a film with a similar storyline, then you’re not entirely off the mark. However, Firaaq is more subtle and also a less multi-layered effort as compared to MMJ and that isn’t exactly one of its strong points.

After establishing the various plots and taking a long time to get there (even at 1hr 45 mins, the film seems really long), Firaaq remains on the surface and fails to pierce into the heart of the matter and make a larger statement.

Munira (Shahana Goswami) and Hanif (Nowaz) have returned to find their house in ruins after being in hiding for a month following the riots. Hanif is devastated and wants revenge, while Munira wants to know if her neighbours are capable of causing such destruction. Aarti (Deepti Naval) is dealing with the horror of witnessing the death of Muslims at her doorstep and her inability to help them. She also deals with a bigot of a husband in Sanjay (Paresh Rawal).

Musician Khan sahaab (Naseeruddin Shah) is old and stooped, but stands tall in his conviction that music can bring people from different communities together and spread the message of peace.

Sameer Shaikh (Sanjay Suri) and wife Anuradha Desai (Tisca Chopra) are relocating after Sameer’s shop, which he owned in partnership with a Hindu friend, is destroyed by rioters. There’s also Mohsin, a young boy who has lost his family to the carnage and is roaming aimlessly in the search of his abbu.

At least three of the stories – the ones about Sameer Shaikh, Mohsin and Hanif – are well narrated and intrinsic to the plot, while the other two suffer on account of weak and hurried writing and appear disjointed from the central theme. The angle of the helpless housewife seems to be forced into the story to show the suffering of a Hindu in the after math too which is essential to the story, but could have been conveyed in a better manner. Khan sahaab’s transition from a man full of hope to one in despair at what’s happening around him seems abrupt.

The best lines, however, seem to have been saved for Shah, in the role of Khan sahaab, and understandably so. Tired and old, the musician looks at his Man Friday (Raghuvir Yadav) with defeated eyes and says, “Saat suron main itni taaqat nahi ke woh aisi nafrat ka samna kar sake.” Firaaq is worth a watch for simply that one scene and Shah’s histrionics.

The rest of it can be an effort. What takes you through though is the acting, and more importantly the brilliant casting. One strong instance is Rawal, seen in umpteen comic roles lately, but cast in the role of the Gujrati bigot is definitely a welcome change.

All the other actors have given a decent account of themselves and veterans like Shah and Raghuvir Yadav of course only dish out what is probably second nature to them now a thoroughly natural performances. Nowaz, in the role of Hanif, deserves mention.

In the end though, Firaaq is a strong yet incomplete statement about the Gujarat riots. Watch it for the performances and some hard-hitting dialogues. And for a potential story teller in Nandita Das.