Firaaq

Onscreen, Nandita Das has proven herself the most soulful of actors, capable of combining emotional expressiveness with unshakable integrity. Off screen, she has maintained an ongoing commitment to social justice in India. Das brings these two worlds together in her feature debut, telling the story of one of India's great wounds with both sincerity and passion.

Conflict between Hindus and Muslims continues to flare into violence in India, and is often stoked by political interests. Firaaq begins in 2002 in the state of Gujarat, where three thousand Muslims died in communal riots. In an early scene of almost Shakespearean gravity, two Muslim men dig a mass grave for the victims. From there, the story jumps forward one month, away from the direct physical effects of the conflict to the more amorphous – but increasingly persistent – inner discord.

When Hanif and Muneera return to the modest home they had fled during the violence, they find it ransacked. With their lives shattered not simply by vandalism but by betrayal from their neighbours, Hanif seeks revenge. Elsewhere, middle-class Hindus Sanjay and Arati were untouched by the hostilities, but are met with new moral challenges. Serene older musician Khan Saheb (Naseeruddin Shah) has tried to transcend religious differences, but as a Muslim living in a Hindu neighbourhood, he now finds this stance more complicated. At the same time, Anu and Sameer, an intermarried Hindu-Muslim couple, finally face the tensions they have long suppressed.

Das interweaves these stories over one twenty-four-hour period, as characters of both faiths and from many levels of society grapple with the new, post-violence reality. Through it all, a young boy named Mohsin embarks on an urban odyssey from his refugee camp towards a better future, wherever he might find it.

Firaaq is an Urdu word that means both separation and quest. Like this courageous and essential debut film, the word acknowledges divisions while pointing a way forward to hope.

Acclaimed actress Nandita Das presents her seismically charged directorial debut about ordinary people, from different walks of life, altered forever after the Hindu Muslim riots which ravaged Gujarat in 2002.

Aarti (Deepti Naval) is a housewife silently haunted by the sight of Muslim women begging for sanctuary in her house, that she ignored. Her only hope for salvation comes when she takes in an orphaned Muslim boy as a servant, pretending to her family he is Hindu. Khan Saheb (Naseeruddin Shah) is a great Muslim musician who lives in a Hindu suburb, refusing to comprehend the fractured world around him. Muneera has hidden with friends during the riots but returns to find her home gutted and trust in her neighbours destroyed. Middle class Sameer, married to a Hindu wife, is torn between fleeing town or staying and being recognised as a Muslim.

While slum dwellers live in constant fear of the next outbreak of violence, others plot revenge. With masterly control Das explores the relationships, good and bad, that bind these two different religious communities to their homeland, and to each other, even in the face of the most terrible atrocities.
Cary Rajinder Sawhney

This film is nominated for the FIPRESCI Critics Award.

She is a bundle of talent and has the caliber of reaching the stars. After winning innumerable awards in acting, Nandita Das finally steps into direction. Her debut directorial film, Firaaq - In Such Times is being produced by Percept Pictures.

The film stars top-notch actors like, Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Tisca Chopra, Sanjay Suri besides others. “The film is an ensemble of five stories. It deals with emotions, relationships, reaction and helplessness in such times,” says an excited Nandita Das. One look at the promo and you know that it is a hard-hitting film. “It deals with a delicate situation. It is not a comedy film but once you see the film, it is bound to touch your hearts,” adds Nandita. On speaking to Sanjay about Firaaq he says, “Firaaq means separation, some have a long separation and some have a short one but they share the same agony. I play a Muslim man who does not wear his name on his face. It’s about my wife and me and how we deal with the complex emotions at such times.”

The film is in conversational language, some English, Hindi, and Urdu. “Nandita has been a fantabulous director. Inspite of being her first directorial film she never once showed it. The film is about how violence affects people’s lives. Beyond this you will have to see the film,” concludes Tisca Chopra.

Firaaq is an ensemble film that takes place over a 24-hour period and a month after a horrific communal carnage. The film deals with the impact of violence on human psyche and relationships. Ordinary people are the one’s most affected in times of discomfort and the film presents this thought comprehensively.

Khan Saheb (Naseeruddin Shah), Karim (Raghubir Yadav), Sanjay (Paresh Rawal), Arati (Deepti Naval), Sameer Shaikh (Sanjay Suri), Anuradha Desai (Tisca Chopra), Muneera (Shahana Goswami) are the characters of the film.

Firaaq has five different stories that are at times interconnected and at times discrete. The characters are across class, gender, age and community that represent a cross section of society. In violent times one can observe a multitude of different characters. Some characters are victims, some are perpetrators and then there are those who simply watch silently.

Director
Nandita das
“Firaaq is a urdu word that means both separation and quest. I chose to do a film on this subject because I thought it would click with the urban audience. This film is about the meaning of human relationships and it talks about how communal disturbances in the society affect relationships on an interpersonal level.

Firaaq is a work of fiction, based on a thousand true stories. I have chosen an ensemble structure because in mass violence there are no individual heroes or villains. When thousands have suffered, the suffering of only one cannot be glorified. Most films about riots are full of violence that they set out to critique. Instead I have chosen to explore the fear, anxiety, prejudice and ambivalence of human relationships in such times.

For me the research, the writing and the making of the film has been a hugely cathartic experience. This journey has given me the opportunity to express my concerns, dilemmas and beliefs.

I have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Raghubir Yadav, Deepti Naval, Paresh Rawal and Sanjay Suri. This film might seem arty to some, but I can assure the audience that watching it will be a pleasant and entertaining experience.”

THE BUZZ
Nandita Das is known for her acclaimed roles in films like Fire, Earth and Bawandar. Moving on from her acting endeavours Das debuts as a director with Firaaq. Credit to Das for assembling a magnificent team of actors. With the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Deepti Naval, Raghubir Yadav and Sanjay Suri, Firaaq is sure to catch the eye of cinegoers. The film does not have a commercial pull, but it will be noticed for being a hard hitting.