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Black Friday (2004) Director: Anurag Kashyap Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Pavan Malhotra, Aditya Srivastava Time: 143 min. Hindi with English subtitles Rating: |
Originally completed in 2004, Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday sat on the shelf for nearly three years before being released. Although many films are delayed for artistic or production reasons, Black Friday’s release was delayed for fear that it could influence the trial of those responsible for the bombings portrayed in the film. But within weeks of the final sentencing, this incredible, engrossing film finally came to the theaters.
At its simplest, Black Friday tells the story of the March 1993 Bombay bombings that killed at least 300 people and injured nearly 1,000 others. Based on the nonfiction book Black Friday by S. Hussein Zaidi, the film depicts the investigation of the bombings, the capture of the terrorists behind them, and what motivated the attacks.
Although the topic would suggest that a documentary approach would be more suitable, Kashyap’s decision to dramatize the events works on a metaphorical level a documentary could never achieve. And he does this without distorting facts.
One thing that normally gives a fictional narrative strength—deeply drawn characters—is surprisingly missing here. The cast of police officers and terrorists moves across the screen with minimal depth. At most, we learn only their names and their connection to the events; we have little knowledge of their past or present lives.
However, in this case, such details really aren’t necessary because Black Friday is focused on a much larger picture: how does law enforcement cope with the responsibilities of fighting terrorists and what happens to terrorists after they have committed their actions.
We watch Inspector Rakesh Maria (Menon) interrogate suspects and supervise their beatings to extract confessions. A few moments later, we see him fretting or washing his face as if trying to wash away his guilt. The offenses he must commit to protect democracy clearly disturb him.
Likewise, as the terrorists go into hiding, we witness their gradual disillusionment and realization that they have been used to fulfill a someone else’s agenda. To portray this, the film follows Badshah Kahn (Srivastava), who flees from city to village to city to village and back again. The terrorists have been promised money and eventual passage to Saudi Arabia, but Kahn quickly discovers their passports have been burned. Then the monetary support evaporates, leaving him stranded.
The film also focuses on Tiger Memon (Malhotra), who escaped to Saudi Arabia before the blasts and enjoys a comfortable life. We also witness how he manipulated a group of young men into committing these atrocities to assuage his ego.
This is what gives Black Friday its cinematic power—witnessing the motivations, actions, and reactions of the principal players. No documentary could depict these scenes because documentaries by nature must maintain a scholarly integrity to command respect.
However, Kashyap manages to maintain a documentary’s seemingly unbiased perspective. Once the terrorists have been caught and Tiger Memon exposed, Kashyap explores the chain of events that led to the bombings. He traces everything back to the December 1992 destruction of the Babri Mosque at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists, which set off a spat of Hindu-Muslim riots and retaliation murders.
Through this exploration, he places the blame universally on zealots (Hindu and Muslim) who use religion to manipulate the malleable for their own twisted political agendas. Opening and closing the film with Gandhi’s quote, “An eye for an eye leaves the world blind,” clearly establishes this overarching theme.
On a technical note, the acting is strong, but understated. The actors handle the transformations of their characters brilliantly without the typical Bollywood melodrama. Cinematically, the film is lush, and some of the compositions are masterful, although some of the images of the bomb victims can be graphic and intense.
The scenes of India are particularly amazing. Kashyap captures the sights and sounds of urban and rural India perfectly, from Mumbai, Delhi, and Jaipur to Tonk and Rampur. His presentation of the people is realistic, yet artistic.
My only concern is how well Western audiences will understand the context that surrounds the events because the film doesn’t immediately clarify that Muslim extremists perpetrated the bombings. Anyone familiar with South Asian culture will have no problems with context: the men’s topis and names identify them as Muslim.
However, in one scene at the beginning of the film, one of the terrorists says in Hindi that they have acted as Muslims. But anyone who doesn’t understand Hindi or Urdu missed this detail because the English subtitles ignored the word Mussalman and simply said “we.”
Excepting this minor contextual flaw, Black Friday is an amazing cinematic portrayal of horrific events, and it uses these events to create a message of nonviolence and tolerance. The intense nature of the movie might leave you in a black mood, this powerful film will certainly make a strong impact.
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