FIRAAQ begins in 2002 in the Indian state of Gujarat, where three thousand Muslims died in communal riots. When Muslims Hanif and Muneera return to the modest home they had fled during the violence, they find it ransacked. With their lives shattered not simply by vandalism but by betrayal from their neighbours, Hanif seeks revenge. Elsewhere, middle-class Hindus Sanjay and Arati were untouched by the hostilities, but are met with new moral challenges. Serene older musician Khan Saheb (Naseeruddin Shah) has tried to transcend religious differences, but as a Muslim living in a Hindu neighbourhood, he now finds this stance more complicated. At the same time, Anu and Sameer, a mixed-marriage couple, finally face the tensions they have long suppressed. Nandita Das expertly interweaves these stories over one 24-hour period, as characters of both faiths and from many levels of society grapple with the new, post-violence reality. *Official selection, Toronto International Film Festival 2008
Presented in association with ActionAid, www.actionaid.org.uk
and the Birds Eye View Film Festival, www.birds-eye-view.co.uk