MELBOURNE, 31 March 2023 : In times when people are silent on crucial issues, Director Hansal Mehta’s ‘Faraaz’ is a bold and brave take on religious radicalism laced with bigotry. It’s not for the weak-hearted and also not for those emotionally-driven. So much has been spoken and written about terror and those involved in it. Profiling is rampant. Subjectivity dominates minds. What happens to humans taking extreme steps and their victims needs to be told vividly. The human drama needs true exposure. Every side has a view. That’s what Hansal Mahta has done in ‘Faraaz’.
Dhaka’s 1 July, 2016 Holey Artisan Cafe hostage drama is the backdrop of ‘Faraaz’. Five radicals have taken hostages there to bring Bangladesh into the global Islamist narrative fighting persecution of their faith in different international trouble-spots. Amid the hostages is Faraaz, an upper class Dhaka boy with his female friends Isha and Sarika. The cops are outside the Cafe and rescue plans being debated amid the explosive situation. Parents and relatives are anxious for their loved ones. This includes Faraaz’s mother desperately trying to get her son rescued.
Meanwhile, inside the Cafe another battle is on. Time is running fast and the cops are closing in. Some foreigners have been killed. Hansal Mehta focuses on Faraaz , Isha and Sarika. Faraaz recognises one of the terrorist (Nibris) as the one with whom he once played football. ‘Islam khatre main Hi’ (Islam is in danger) and ‘Hum Jannat Ja rahe hain’ (We are going to paradise) is what Nibris (Aditya Rawal) tells Faraaz (Zahan Kapoor). All Bangladeshis are not the same. Faraaz is different. His arguments with Nibris are the core message of this tense hostage drama.
” Hamari identity hamare culture se ati hi – sirf Islam se nahi,” says Faraaz. In fact, Faraaz wants his Islam back. Faraaz, Isha and Sarika are mowed down by the terrorists, as he refuses to accept freedom without the girls.
The other hostages are freed and the five hostage-takers are killed after RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) men storm the cafe.
Chootu’s (Faraaz’s nick name) mother’s words – ” Jab zulm ho raha tha – us ke khilaf Chootu khada tha”, wraps up the movie.
This is a brave movie, true to Hansal Mehta’s non-compromising style. Have you forgotten Shahid, Aligarh, Omerta …? It is a message against hate, depends who is doing it and where it is happening.
I give it 4 stars out of 5.
