Mar 28, 2009 04:33 PM
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(Updated Mar 28, 2009 04:37 PM)
Directed by Mehreen Jabbar, starring Nandita Das this is a heart rending tale of a father and son who inadvertently cross the Indo-Pak and are put behind bars. The story is set in a dusty little hamlet in Pakistan in the aftermath of the attack on the Indian Parliment. We realize how innocent people face political repercussions of an incident that they are not even aware of. Like dried leaves in the wind they get blown into trouble for no fault of theirs.
The village is predominantly inhabited by Dalit Hindus – who work on the Zamindar’s land for daily wages. Here lives Nandita Das with her husband and 8-year old son. One fine day the son quarrels with him mother for giving him less tea than his father and runs away in anger. He runs past the field where is father is toiling. The father spots him and follows. The boy is angrily kicking stones and unknowingly crosses the ‘border’ – which is simply rocks kept in a line. Indian border security forces catch him and his father who comes in search of him. They are put behind bars and no record of their arrest is made.
The rest of the story is the agonizing wait by Nandita Das as she swings between hope and despair with each passing day. A dalit woman – alone does not have it easy at all. Meanwhile the father and son duo have a frustrated wait in prison – without knowing when – if ever they will get out at all.
A simple, elegantly crafted tale. It is slow paced – for life does come to a stand still for this family. We wait each day with them. We hope. We weep. We despair. We pray. And like Nandita Das we want to believe that this tale must have a happy ending.
What I really liked was that there is no fault finding. No Pakistan bashing. It is very matter of fact. There really are no villains in this story. If anything, we could blame it on circumstances. The camaraderie amongst the prison inmates is endearing. Brilliant performances by the cast – Rashid Farooqui as the father, Syed Fazal Hussain as the 7-year old Ramchand, Navaid Jabbar as the 13 year old Ramchand and Mana Wasti (the cop who takes Ramchand under her wing). Music is rustic and brilliant. Perfectly in sync with the rest of the movie.
Watch it for its simplicity, elegance and brilliance.
