|
|
Saturday, April 20, 2024
|
|
BOLLYWOOD SHAHID
EDITOR'S PICK
`Shahid`
- gritty,raw , gripping and guttural (IANS Movie Review )
Rating: ****
Stop right here. `Shahid` is the sort of rare raw unnerving journey into a
socio-political reality that our cinema needs to undertake regularly but seldom
does. Our filmmakers largely veer away from doing films whose redolent realism
could ruffle political feathers.
First and foremost, Hansal Mehta’s film on the real-life slain lawyer Shahid
Azmi is a fearless work.
Fearless and unfettered, Mehta wastes no time in establishing the monstrous
marginalization of the Muslim community in a society where terrorism has blurred
the majority community’s sense of propriety to the extent of unmitigated
bigotry.
"Shahid" is an exposition on abject isolation. There is a harrowing
sequence of police brutality in the film where the film’s Muslim lawyer-hero
sits on the hard floor of a police station stark naked shivering as the cop
repeatedly accuses Shahid of terror activities. The protagonist’s absolute
humiliation at that point in the narration hits us where it hurts the most.
Predominantly "Shahid" is about an impatient society anxieties to find
scapegoats for the growing violence all around us. In a language that embraces
the complexities pertaining to the issue of Islamic isolation, Mehta’s film
cracks open the code of that unexplored genre of cinema known as the drama of
persecution.
In "Shahid", Mehta chronicles the life of lawyer Shahid Azmi with the
kind of deft clenched directness that one encounters in the docu-dramas of
Costa-Gavras or nearer home, the searching searing cinema of the uprooted and
isolated individual that Adoor Gopalkrishnan specialises in.
The silence of the night is punctured by the shrill sound of the phone. Slurred
threats are hurled. Taking the abuse on his chin, the crusading lawyer, played
with scintillating austerity by Rajkumar Yadav, sits stoically at the centre of
the debris of destruction of distrust as he undertakes a jehad to prove the
innocence of the arbitrarily accused.
There are some highly poignant electrifying courtroom sequences shot with the
languorous devastating dinginess of courtrooms that have killed off all chances
of justice for the damned.
What would those wretched TADA undertrials, locked up and left to languish for
life, have done without Shahid Azmi to fight for their lives?
Now I ask you, what would Shahid Azmi’s character have been like if was not
portrayed by the very gifted Rajkumar Yadav?
This brilliant actor, whose forte is underplaying, imbues Shahid’s role with
the kind of tightly-reined tumult and an unspoken anguish that actors in our
cinema seldom get a chance to put forward in the characters they play. Here is a
performance that deserves a standing ovation, primarily because it doesn’t
scream for attention.
In comparison, the other performances appear pale and distant, albeit authentic
and thoughtful. Tigmanshu Dhulia is notably powerful in a brief cameo as an
eminent lawyer.
Shahid’s relationship with the divorcee mother is never satisfactorily rounded
up nor assimilated into this courageous man’s fight for justice for those who
are condemned not only by law but by social stigmatization.
What comes across with forceful impact is the protagonist’s yen for justice.
This man who has suffered the worst humiliation and suffering in custody won’t
allow the same shame and pain for those who are wrongfully confined. This man
means business. We must hear his story.
Of course, he pays with his life. Whether it’s Romeo or Shahid, all heroes
must come to a suitably sticky end. That’s what you get for trying to be a
hero. Sometimes while you try to be larger than life, life creeps up on you to
make its own outrageous claims.
"Shahid" is a crucial document of our troubled times. It builds an
incredibly gripping case-study of persecution and vindication. The treatment of
the topical subject is never ponderous or polemical. Mehta has set out to
convert the slain lawyer’s valorous tale into an authentic exposition on the
residue of retribution.
But what to do, if the end-result is so darned gripping?
"Shahid" is a must-see film with an absolutely impeccable subtext that
can be read as an urgent warning against the politics of isolation practiced by
many political parties.
Be warned. You might be voting for violence.
Actor Rajkummar Rao is happy with the way "Fanne Khan" has turned out, and says he had fun working with actors Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan."'Fanne Khan' has shaped out quite well. I am very happy with the film," Rajkummar told IANS."I had a great experience working with both Aishwarya and Anil Sir," he added. Read More
I like female attention: Rajkummar RaoRajkummar Rao loves all the attention he is getting, and says he is overwhelmed with his increasing number of female fans."I like attention. I like female attention as well. It is very overwhelming. I have seen that there is growth in the amount of people who used to like me and it has gone up thanks to the whole of last year," Rajkummar told IANS in an interview."It is very encouraging also in a way... People like me, they are appreciating my work and the kind of films that I am doing," he added. Read More
`Shahid` traces the story of a slain human rights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi. Set during the communal violence that was unleashed in the city of Mumbai since 1993. We see a remarkable tale unfold. From attempting to become a terrorist to being wrongly imprisoned under the anti-terrorism law to becoming a lawyer, a champion of human rights (particularly the Muslim minorities in India), "Shahid" traces the inspiring personal journey of a boy while following the rise of communal violence in India. The story of an impoverished Muslim struggling to come to terms with injustice, inequality and rising above his circumstances is an inspiring testament to the human spirit.
