Firaaq

Based on what is said to be a great number of true stories, Firaaq starts one month after the riots in the state of Gujarat. In 2002 about 2000 Moslems were massacred as a revenge for the death of 58 Hindu pilgrims when Moslem extremists set fire to the train they travelled with. Through the course of 24 hours we meet various people from several social strata and religions in a state strongly marked by what is described as the bloodiest religious strife in India in a decade.

With empathy and soberness human fates are portrayed – people who in various ways were struck by the riots. Aarti, a middle-aged Hindu woman is haunted by a black conscience because she did not let a Moslem woman fleeing from a raging mob in. Mohsin, a young Moslem, becomes homeless because of the riots and searches desperately for his father, meanwhile a married couple see their store being burnt down, and wish to flee to Dehli. The stories intertwine, giving the impression of how inextricably linked the inhabitants’ lives are. Firaaq is regarded as a more somber, Bollywood Slumdog Millionaire, and it has already won awards both in Asia and in Europe. red