Director: Mehreen Jabbar
Cast: Syed
Fazal Hussain, Navaid Jabbar, Rashid Farooqui, Maria Wasti, Nandita Das
Rating: 4/5
After witnessing the victimized Muslim in a slew of Indian films this year, here comes a Pakistani film about a victimized Hindu. But much against exploitation of religious sentiments, this one doesn't manipulate cast and creed concerns but broadly illustrates injustice and oppression to the humankind in general. 7-year-old Ramchand (Syed Fazal Hussain) belongs to a Dalit Hindu family residing in Pakistan at a village situated on the Indian border. One day the boy and his father Shankar (Rashid Farooqui) accidentally cross the border and enter India where they are arrested by the border security on pretext of spying. The two are transferred to a jail in Gujarat where they spend five long years for no fault of theirs. Meanwhile Ramchand's mother Champa (Nandita Das) keeps longing for the return of her husband and son. With a premise as basic as this, the straightforward storytelling by director Mehreen Jabbar focuses predominantly on human bonding and the emotional evolution of the child character. The film very sharply shows how two innocent people pall prey to the political hostility between two neighbouring countries on the verge of war and become hostages on charges they are not even remotely aware of. Their helplessness to the circumstances and the resulting frustration is persuasively portrayed. The film maintains a politically correct stance by not taking sides of either country (India or Pakistan), religion (Hindu or Muslim) or creed (untouchables or upper class) and has a very secular outlook. Also the narrative intentionally steers away from justifying the rights and wrongs of the legal system and has a peripheral approach to the imprisonment of the protagonists, thereby showing them as fall guys of fate. The screenplay significantly concentrates on the progression of Ramchand in prison and his association with his father and elder inmates. But the most tender relationship he shares is with his female warden Kamla (Maria Wasti) who detests him for being a lower class untouchable but at the same time also grooms him, being his only female caretaker in the jail. In a parallel plot, Champa's struggle for solitary survival and her subsequent attraction towards a village merchant is sensitively depicted. The basic human hope for the quest of freedom that the film highlights, reminds of Hollywood classic The Shawshank Redemption which had a similar prison setting. With the separation of the family across the border, one can also draw references to Gadar though in terms of conduct the films are poles apart with this one being toned down by zilch heroism. Of the touching treatment, watch out for the scene where the child vents his angst on his pet bug or the scene where the father holds on to his son for a cycle ride. Another scene where the kid guards his female warden's room or watches video cassettes of Chaalbaaz and Chandni with her are captured on a lighter note. However, the Nandita Das track drags at instances and could have been shorter. The title character is played by two child artists who pose for the two ages of Ramchand Pakistani. Syed Fazal Hussain excels as the younger Ramchand through his innocent-filled expressions while Navaid Jabbar is equally competent as his elder avatar. Rashid Farooqui brings conviction to his character of a vulnerable father and a frustrated victim of circumstances. Nandita Das is fine in her role but has played several of such countryside characters before. Maria Wasti as Ramchand's custodian is both compelling and charming in her act. Ramchand Pakistani captures the connotations of two religions in its title while its appeal is unbound by the confines of any creed or country.
