Date:02/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/02/stories/2007090258790200.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Dhokha: don’t look for entertainment in this film briefly

Pooja stays loyal to Bhatt’s style of filmmaking

Film: DHOKHA

Starcast: Tulip Joshi, Muzamil Ibrahim

Director: Pooja Bhatt

Ah! Finally, some relief from the tyranny of stereotypes. The space meant for villains in Hindi cinema has, for some years now, been usurped by gun-toting, politically pliable militants.

Here, however, comes a nice peek into the mind and heart of a normal man – or woman – who leaves everything aside and takes to arms, even turns a suicide bomber. Director Pooja Bhatt – the unmistakeable Mahesh Bhatt stamp all over h er work – walks down John Mathian lane and comes up with a gritty, hard-hitting film.

“Dhokha” raises pertinent questions without resorting to hyperbole. It has the courage of conviction and the unflagging honesty of intent.

Relating the plight of an honest Muslim cop whose wife is accused of being a suicide bomber in an incident that left 20 dead and as many injured, it is a rare film that makes no political statement. Instead, it delves into the human side of the tragedy: What is it that makes a young, happy girl take to arms and sacrifice her own life? Why is it that after every blast – from Akshardham to Mecca Masjid – only one community is singled out? And why the handiwork of some individuals is used to taint an entire community black? And is a young boy who sees his sister being outraged by corrupt policemen wrong if he picks up arms?

Good pace

So many questions, yet it is no sermon. The projection is all polished as Pooja uses the directorial baton with a mix of relish and restrain. Young Muzamil Ibrahim is passably believable as the cop on the wrong end of the system.

Tulip Joshi as the suicide bomber is innocent to the core, and is thereby able to depict the angst of the innocent pushed too far. There are no mouthful dialogues on patriotism of any hue, hardly any ugly interludes to break the narration. The script works well, the pace is good.

Cool. But is the film lacking something? Yes, it lacks entertainment value. At least for those who come looking for escapist fare.

But those who come to watch a film that relates a tale with a purpose, a film that is part of a larger social responsibility, they won’t be disappointed.

Forget the commercial stakes, Pooja Bhatt deserves credit for handling the subject of terrorism without resorting to caricatures, for talking of Muslim anguish without slipping into history. “Dhokha” stays loyal to the Bhatt way of filmmaking.

ZIYA US SALAM