Kerala   

Of communal strife and its victims

Saira

Saira, written and directed by Biju, looks at how religious terrorism inflicts untold miseries on the lives of ordinary peace-loving people, particularly women. The film tells the story of how innocent people are tortured by the police on the mere suspicion of abetting terrorists. It also attempts to probe the mindset of the terrorist by juxtaposing it with that of the truly religious person. In a dialogue from the film, the terrorist says all he is concerned about is the welfare of people belonging to his own religion. The true believer retorts that the almighty is concerned about the welfare of the whole of mankind.

The film tells the story of a young woman Saira (Navya Nair), a television channel reporter. Her father is Ustad Ali Hussein, a tabla player who has retired and wants to lead a quiet life with his daughter. Saira is thrilled when she gets a chance to interview the leader of a terrorist outfit. Later, communal riots break out in the city following the killing of a religious leader in a terrorist attack. Saira is on her job when she is abducted and gang-raped. She is yet to recover fully from her trauma when she is arrested, branded as a terrorist and tortured by the police. The police suspect her because of her interview with the terrorist leader. The film ends with visuals reminding us that there are many more Sairas out there in the streets — helpless victims of communal strife.

Navya Nair performs brilliantly as Saira. The loneliness of the father in the absence of his daughter is brought out well by Nedumudi Venu.

The cast includes V.K. Baiju, Koodal Sobhan, B.N. Radhakrishnan, Thazhava Sahadevan, Somarajan Pillai, Rajan Venadu, Baby Shahina and Sunil.

Ramesh Narayan's background music is in tune with the subject of the film. Director of sound effects Raju Marthandam has also done a commendable job. The camera by M.J. Radhakrishnan captures the picturesque locations as well as the rustic beauty.

G. Jayakumar

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