Mulk: The Story of a Case of Prejudice!
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Reviewer’s Thumb Mark
Abhinav Sinha’s film ‘Mulk’ questions the very prejudice of having two entity in our mind as Indians about the people of our country i.e., ‘Us’ and ‘Them’. Mulk challenges and questions the often heard statement that we allowed and welcomed Muslims to stay in India. The film makes us think and feel that there is no question of ‘allowing or not allowing’ anyone; what is important to understand is that the ‘Mulk (Country)’ is one and the people of this ‘Mulk’ are one, irrespective of what religion, belief, values and rituals they follow. The film states that if you find anyone in doubt the above statement, handover the initial few pages of our constitution to the ignorant.
What is noteworthy about the film Mulk is that it depicts the ‘The Truth’ threadbare. The truth that we are as a country a ‘Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic’. It needs tremendous courage and belief in making such a film when people are hunted down for speaking their mind. Mulk is a wakeup call to check the current trajectory of our country steered by a few by fueling religious sentiments by strategically fanning religious insecurities among the easily vulnerable people by using technology, social media, power and to a great extent sometimes the state machinery too.
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The film hovers around a Muslim family in Benaras and its Patriarch Murad Ali Mohammed who is caught unaware about his nephew’s terrorist connection when the tranquillity of Allahabad city is ripped apart by a series of bomb blasts. Murad Ali a retired advocate who now prescribes homoeopathic medicines to his neighbourhood friends and neither he nor his Hindu friends hesitate to utter salutations like Ram Ram and Assalamu Alaikum to each other, all of a sudden find himself and his family ostracized as an enemy of the ‘Mulk’. His house wall one fine morning is defaced with “Go Back To Pak”
The film is an effort to look at terrorism objectively and to convey that no religion has anything to do with terrorism. In one such instance the advocate Ms. Aarti Mohammed (Taapsee Pannu) for Murad Ali Mohammed who is also his daughter-in-law tells in the courtroom that ‘Terrorism is a criminal act and not a communal act’ and therefore to be cautious about the intentions of religious fanatics who manipulate and diverts any discussion on terrorism towards a particular community and religion.
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Prateik Babbar as the misguided youth Shahid has less screen space but leaves his impact for the whole film to set its tone. Manoj Pahwa as Bilal, father of Shahid plays well as a helpless grief-stricken father whose only mistake is that he never checked his son’s activities and newfound friendship with unwanted elements. Manoj Pahwa known for his comic timings and appearances has nailed his character so well that you emote along with him and feel his trauma and shock.
Rishi Kapoor as Murad Ali Mohammed the patriarch of the hapless family wins your heart as a man of ethics and love for his nation. There is no such moment where you doubt his integrity as an Indian citizen. He is dead against dividing the nation into religious terms, he believes in communal harmony and advocates that problem lies in people’s mindset towards each other’s religion and customs. Murad Ali reminds us that there many like him in our country who are misunderstood, targeted and doubted for their integrity just because they are Muslims. Taapsee Pannu has added another feather on her cap by playing the role of Aarti Mohammed in Mulk. She is bang on, restrained and daring to question her own parents at one point of time ask her to leave her in-laws to mend they are own troubles and issues. Her courtroom arguments against the Public Prosecutor Santhosh Anand played by the versatile actor Ashutosh Rana is something to watch for.
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Ashutosh Rana as the Public Prosecutor voices the majoritarian bias towards linking a particular religion and community to terrorism. He as an actor is extremely successful in evoking anger, hatred and doubt against the community he is targeting. Though the theatrics in the courtroom is a dampener and becomes a bit dragging and clichéd but can be overlooked. Also, the background of certain characters are not built properly like all of a sudden we find the Hindu daughter in law of Murad Ali declare that she is the lawyer of Bilal and surprisingly we find suddenly Murad Ali entering the court as an advocate. We are left a bit perplexed that why did otherwise a strong character like Murad Ali decides to leave fighting his case as an advocate giving the responsibility to Aarti Mohammed midway. Whereas, Murad Ali Mohammed’s monologue in the court as an accused to prove his love for his Mulk is outstanding but he is seen broken and shattered in continuing as his own advocate.
Neena Gupta, Rajat Kapoor, Prachee Shah Paandya, Ashrut Jain, Indraneil Sengupta, Abdul Quadir Amin and Vartika Singh as supporting cast has done a remarkable act. The film has a stellar cast which is outstanding and convincing.
Songs like ‘Thenge Se’, ‘Khudara’ and ‘Piya Samaye’ goes with the plot. Evan Mulligan’s cinematography captures the chaos, the anger, the simmering distrust and longing for peace and harmony in a volatile communal situation very well.
In short, Mulk is not just a film, it is the soul of our Mulk that has opened its heart to us. Go and watch along with all those friends who without thinking twice gets carried away by forwarded messages on Whatsapp, and who don’t hesitate to write on the facebook wall and comments in bold ‘Go to Pakistan’. Like Danish Javed, the encounter specialist says let us rightly frame terrorism as the use of violent acts to frighten and harm the people in an area. So any act of violence against women, tribals, workers, and children the list is long be considered as an act of terrorism. The timing of Mulk is right when our Mulk is edging closer for national elections.
.Life Connoisseur Movie Rating: 3.75/5
Cast: Rishi Kapoor (Murad Ali Mohammed), Taapsee Pannu (Aarti Mohammed),Prateik Babbar (Sahid Mohammed), Manoj Pahwa (Bilal Mohammed), Rajat Kapoor (Danish Javed), Nena Gupta (Tabassum), Prachee Shah Pandya, Vartika Singh, Ashrut Jain (Rashid), Indraneil Sengupta, Abdul Quadir Amin
Genre: Drama
Director: Anubhav Sinha
Producers: Deepak Mukut, Anubhav Sinha
Written by: Anubhav Sinha
Music by: Prasad Shaste, Anurag Saikia (Score), Mangesh Dakde
Edited by: Ballu Saluja
Cinematography: Ewan Mulligan
Production Company: Banaras MediaWorks, Soham Rockstar Entertainment
Release Date: 3 August, 2018
Language: Hindi
Duration: 141 Minutes
