Screened as part of NZIFF 2009

Firaaq 2008

Directed by Nandita Das

“A probing and discerning work that examines the emotional and personal consequences of the religious strife and sectarian violence roiling Hindus and Muslims in contemporary India.” — Screendaily

India In English, Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu with English subtitles
101 minutes 35mm

Director

Producers

Harindra M. Singh
,
Shailendra M. Singh

Screenplay

Shuchi Kothari
,
Nandita Das

Photography

Ravi K. Chandran

Editor

Sreekar Prasad

Production designer

Gautam Sen

Sound

Manas Choudhury

Music

Rajat Dholakia
,
Piyush Kanojia

With

Naseeruddin Shah
,
Raghubir Yadav
,
Paresh Rawal
,
Deepti Naval
,
Sanjay Suri
,
Tisca Chopra
,
Shahana Goswami
,
Nowaz

Festivals

Toronto, Vancouver 2008

Elsewhere

“The directing debut of the superb actress Nandita Das, Firaaq is a probing and discerning work that examines the emotional and personal consequences of the religious strife and sectarian violence roiling Hindus and Muslims in contemporary India. Best known for her excellent work with Deepa Mehta (Fire, Earth), Das sketched out the story and script for Firaaq with [Auckland] writer Shuchi Kothari... The movie is steeped in the country's somber, devastatingly contentious modern history... The story is set around a chilling contemporary event, the 2002 ethnic clashes that left some 3,000 Muslims dead in the province of Gujarat. The story unfolds over an incident-packed 24-hour period, set one month after the outbreak of violence. Das constructs her story like a fugue or dance. She makes distinct and intensely visceral the sense of loss as witnessed by the young Muslim couple... who are devastated to find their home in charred ruins.” — Screendaily