Riveting re-creation of a crime thriller -- Black Friday
Genre: Docu-drama
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Pawan Malhotra, Aditya Srivastava
Storyline: The investigations of the March 12, 1993, bomb blasts in Mumbai.
Bottomline: An intriguing debut of a whole new genre of Indian filmmaking.
Although S. Hussain Zaidi's book `Black Friday' was riveting material, it would be hard to imagine it translated into a film without compromising on the nature of the narrative. That is, until you see Anurag Kashyap's film `Black Friday.' The movie follows the same fractured structure of the book and is even divided into chapters. This proves to be complicated, as there are several characters to keep track of, but it keeps the audience hooked in the manner of a crime thriller.
First, a little backgrounder — Anurag Kashyap made the film in 2005.
However, the commercial release was held up as the trial for the bomb blasts was still in progress. It was finally over in September 2006, and Kashyap's baby was free to be viewed by the world.
The fear was that the film would influence public opinion about the trial.But once you see the film, you realise that those fears were groundless.
Horrible incidents
It would definitely bring the horrible incidents of 1993 back in focus, but the film's stance on the subject is not one-sided. The message is `An eye for an eye makes the world blind.' The bomb blasts are said to be the Muslim underworld's retaliation to the communal riots following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
Kashyap's `Black Friday' prunes a lot of characters from the story to make it wieldy for the 160 minutes of running time. In the movie, the investigation is handled largely by Rakesh Maria ( Kay Kay Menon). Tiger Memon (Pawan Malhotra) is depicted as the centre of the conspiracy.
What is most exciting about the film is its docu-drama feel, where no names are changed (except for Badshah Khan, which was changed in the book to protect the identity of the police witness). It is a re-creation of the bomb blasts (with TV grabs of the actual events) and the piecing together of the investigation. The complex and fascinating nature of the subject takes care of the plot. But the touches of situational humour by the director are what make the film worth watching.
Kashyap has already proved that he can tell a tale and tell it well - he wrote `Satya', `Kaun' and more recently worked on the dialogue for `Guru,' and the Oscar nominated `Water'.
The surprise injections of laugh-out-loud moments in the dreariest of situations really work.
The cinematography by Nataraja Subramaniam is not so much about studio-created bomb explosions and sensational slow-mo sweeps of victims lying limbless in pools of blood. The colours and the framing of shots (especially for the live street shots that were done keeping in mind the models of cars and content of billboards that would have been around in 1993) are especially noteworthy.
Pawan Malhotra's Memon is so good that you understand how he used his charisma to execute the entire operation. Watch out for Vijay Maurya, who plays Dawood Ibrahim.
SUSAN MUTHALALY
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
