Firaaq: Best Film at Pak KaraFilm Festival

Nandita Das' directorial debut Firaaq, which premièred last night at the seventh KaraFilm Festival in Pakistan, has been named as the Best Film.�Yet to be released in India, it is based on Gujarat's sectarian violence in�2002,�delineating the tensions and perceptions that arise after violent riots.

Bollywood, which has been an inherent part of KaraFilm Festival every year since its inception, did not attend this year's festivities due the Mumbai attacks. However, Nandita Das, who is famous in Pakistan for her role in Ramchand Pakistani, attended the festival along with film maker Mahesh Bhatt.

Reflecting on her journey to Pakistan with Firaaq, Nandita Das said, “To come to Karachi was a big struggle. But it was very necessary to come, not just to screen Firaaq but to make it clear that contacts between artistes continue.” Nandita also opined that artistes should not lose their sensibilities and sensitivities and fall trap to political issues, but should continue to connect to people on the other side of the border.

Firaaq has Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Deepti Naval and Sanjay Suri among others in the lead roles. It depicts a tense and adverse 24-hour period in which the characters have to grapple after a recent incident of violence. According to Nandita, the film portrays the way perceptions change or alter after a bloody act of violence. The plot interweaves the lives of Muslim couple Hanif and Muneera with that of middle-class Hindus Sanjay and Arati, an older Muslim musician and a Hindu-Muslim couple.

Though tensions still prevail between both countries, Firaaq did receive a good response at the KaraFilm Festival. By taking the movie to Pakistan even before its release in India, Nandita has once again proved that society is more important to her than commercial success. Way to go, Nandita!