ashdoc
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Saw this 2007 film on youtube recently .
' Anwar ' begins with a tantalizingly mysterious opening . A young man , apparently emotionally scarred and disoriented , gets off a bus in the middle of nowhere and parks himself in a temple for the night . He is obviously disturbed due to some past events .
But he is a muslim !! And he is carrying sketches of hindu gods and temples with him.....
This gives opportunistic politicians the chance to claim that he is a terrorist , and next day the whole thing blows up as a political charade in which chauvinistic politicians try to cash in on the fact that they zeroed in on to this ' terrorist ' .
The chauvinistic politicians are no one else but the hindu nationalists , and from the start it is clear that even though the film has a message , it has an even bigger agenda....
...And the agenda is nothing but demonisation of hindu nationalists....
For they are immediately shown whipping up the communal frenzy and inciting religious passions . Hordes of people in saffron robes are brought near the site where the alleged terrorist is holed up and the scene is set up for an outpouring of anti muslim hatred . A maulavi brought to talk to Anwar openly tells Anwar that ' these people ' ( meaning hindus ) deliberately kill muslims to forget their dire poverty for a short while by indulging in religious fanaticism which distracts attention from their own problems . The whole hindu mob gathered outside the temple is shown to be incited to become thirsty for muslim blood by the politicians .
The police is brought in , and so is the media .
But everyone is involved in some problem in his or her's personal life . The police officer's wife is dying and he is more bothered about her health than the situation outside the temple . The TV anchor ( Manisha Koirala ) is heartbroken over her relationship .
The politician is in a adulterous affair with another man's wife , but as he goes to give her a Valentine's day gift she rejects him . This enrages him and suddenly the Hindu nationalist within him is roused and he orders a brutal campaign against couples celebrating Valentine's day . Oooohh so mean , these hindu nationalists....
And guess who does the politician's paramour move on to after rejecting him ?? His superior in his political party who else !! Oooooh so loose charactered these hindu nationalists.....
And caught in the midst of all this is Anwar , whose past slowly comes out....
And the past is truely sordid....
This dreamy eyed young man has been responsible for 2 deaths....
And he has lost his way in life and stopped at the temple to reflect and repent.....
Siddharth Koirala has put up a remarkable performance as the dreamy eyed young man who dreams of true love , but fails in the ultimate test---that of loving even when rejected by the object of love . Instead he reacts by sheer jealousy and realises his mistake only when it is too late....
His hindu mentor who teaches him to love and longing for love is himself rejected and he ends his life over the rejection.....
So what happens to Anwar ??
Can he find out a way from the crossroads of life ??
What about the confrontation between him inside the temple and the police waiting with guns outside who have been forced to brand him a terrorist ??
Watch the movie for the answers....
So what is the message of the film ??
The message seems to be that everyone is more involved in his personal life rather than bother about communal issues , and it is those with vested interests ( like politicians and media ) who bring a communal angle to our personal issues . Or so I think....
Two songs in the film impressed me greatly---' maula mere ' and ' tose naina lage re ' . I kept on rewinding the parts with these two songs in order to listen to them again and again.....
Nauheed Cyrusi as Anwar's love interest looks good and Hiten Tejwani as her lover acts well . Sudhir Pandey as the politician is impressive as always....
The locations of the film in rural north India and Lucknow city are hauntingly beautiful and realistic as well as dreamily romantic .
Particularly artistic is the way the love between lord Krishna and Meerabai is used in imaginary flashbacks to draw parallels between Anwar's real life and his unfulfilled love . Above all , the director builds up the suspense about what was Anwar's past for a long while and keeps us hooked onto the film .
What I didn't like was the repeated demonisation of hindu nationalists in hindi movies . So unpatriotic....
But I guess I will have to get used to such demonisation as the hindi film industry is dead set against hindu nationalists .
In the end the movie tries to show muslim fundamentalists in a similar light to keep a balance , but that is a case of too little too late....
What I liked was the pace of the film and the mixing of romance with communal issues done very well....
Verdict---decent .
' Anwar ' begins with a tantalizingly mysterious opening . A young man , apparently emotionally scarred and disoriented , gets off a bus in the middle of nowhere and parks himself in a temple for the night . He is obviously disturbed due to some past events .
But he is a muslim !! And he is carrying sketches of hindu gods and temples with him.....
This gives opportunistic politicians the chance to claim that he is a terrorist , and next day the whole thing blows up as a political charade in which chauvinistic politicians try to cash in on the fact that they zeroed in on to this ' terrorist ' .
The chauvinistic politicians are no one else but the hindu nationalists , and from the start it is clear that even though the film has a message , it has an even bigger agenda....
...And the agenda is nothing but demonisation of hindu nationalists....
For they are immediately shown whipping up the communal frenzy and inciting religious passions . Hordes of people in saffron robes are brought near the site where the alleged terrorist is holed up and the scene is set up for an outpouring of anti muslim hatred . A maulavi brought to talk to Anwar openly tells Anwar that ' these people ' ( meaning hindus ) deliberately kill muslims to forget their dire poverty for a short while by indulging in religious fanaticism which distracts attention from their own problems . The whole hindu mob gathered outside the temple is shown to be incited to become thirsty for muslim blood by the politicians .
The police is brought in , and so is the media .
But everyone is involved in some problem in his or her's personal life . The police officer's wife is dying and he is more bothered about her health than the situation outside the temple . The TV anchor ( Manisha Koirala ) is heartbroken over her relationship .
The politician is in a adulterous affair with another man's wife , but as he goes to give her a Valentine's day gift she rejects him . This enrages him and suddenly the Hindu nationalist within him is roused and he orders a brutal campaign against couples celebrating Valentine's day . Oooohh so mean , these hindu nationalists....
And guess who does the politician's paramour move on to after rejecting him ?? His superior in his political party who else !! Oooooh so loose charactered these hindu nationalists.....
And caught in the midst of all this is Anwar , whose past slowly comes out....
And the past is truely sordid....
This dreamy eyed young man has been responsible for 2 deaths....
And he has lost his way in life and stopped at the temple to reflect and repent.....
Siddharth Koirala has put up a remarkable performance as the dreamy eyed young man who dreams of true love , but fails in the ultimate test---that of loving even when rejected by the object of love . Instead he reacts by sheer jealousy and realises his mistake only when it is too late....
His hindu mentor who teaches him to love and longing for love is himself rejected and he ends his life over the rejection.....
So what happens to Anwar ??
Can he find out a way from the crossroads of life ??
What about the confrontation between him inside the temple and the police waiting with guns outside who have been forced to brand him a terrorist ??
Watch the movie for the answers....
So what is the message of the film ??
The message seems to be that everyone is more involved in his personal life rather than bother about communal issues , and it is those with vested interests ( like politicians and media ) who bring a communal angle to our personal issues . Or so I think....
Two songs in the film impressed me greatly---' maula mere ' and ' tose naina lage re ' . I kept on rewinding the parts with these two songs in order to listen to them again and again.....
Nauheed Cyrusi as Anwar's love interest looks good and Hiten Tejwani as her lover acts well . Sudhir Pandey as the politician is impressive as always....
The locations of the film in rural north India and Lucknow city are hauntingly beautiful and realistic as well as dreamily romantic .
Particularly artistic is the way the love between lord Krishna and Meerabai is used in imaginary flashbacks to draw parallels between Anwar's real life and his unfulfilled love . Above all , the director builds up the suspense about what was Anwar's past for a long while and keeps us hooked onto the film .
What I didn't like was the repeated demonisation of hindu nationalists in hindi movies . So unpatriotic....
But I guess I will have to get used to such demonisation as the hindi film industry is dead set against hindu nationalists .
In the end the movie tries to show muslim fundamentalists in a similar light to keep a balance , but that is a case of too little too late....
What I liked was the pace of the film and the mixing of romance with communal issues done very well....
Verdict---decent .
