Seldom are movies made which make you look into your soul. Talvar is one such film or I should say Talvar is a
mirror through which we get to see ourselves. We get to see how corrupt and biased
we are. To be honest I was disturbed after watching the film and wanted to
punch myself, truth makes us uncomfortable I guess.
It was in 2008; every night they will flash photos of Arushi
a beautiful young girl with Kajal in her eyes and a Mona Lisa like smile. I
didn’t know much about the case except, ‘Characterless parents killed a
characterless daughter’, that is what media told us and that is what we
believed, film tells us much more.
It is a detailed and well researched film written by Vishal Bhardwaj
he tries hard not to let his prejudices come in the way. Superbly shot by
Pankaj Kumar (Ship of Theseus and Haider fame) and executed to perfection by
Meghna Gulzar (you might not have even heard of her previous film, this
surpasses them anyways) with the support of some most talented actors of our time.
The film connects on so many levels. It makes you think, it makes you angry, you
will be surprised awkwardly laughing (especially on the police investigations
and media coverage scenes) and contemplating. You feel like slapping the people
investigating the case and then you will realize that in some way they are your
own reflection. They come from the same society as you and more or less share
the same belief system. The system where reading ‘Three mistakes of my life’ or
surfing porn or planning sleepover with your friends makes you characterless
and vulnerable to such attacks. That same belief system made this case an honor
killing case. I could totally relate to it and could not help hating myself for
it.
The way UP police investigated this case reminded me of my college days
when we used to complete our lab journals for the sole objective of submissions
and grades not even considering what we are writing, sometimes even copying the
dates and roll numbers of others (weird right, I know).
The film has a documentary kind of feel, I have seen it
before in foreign films but I don’t think this genre has been attempted much in
India. It is extremely difficult to make such a film as it takes a lot of
research and courage (it is very easy to protest or burn posters or ban films
in our country). I would request you to please go and watch this film if you
really want to see a film which speaks to you (and you are a kind of person who
don’t like to buy popcorns for a film
because the way it grips you it won’t let you eat anything. It is good in a way
I mean you end up saving 250 bucks which is pretty awesome. Here I gave
you one more reason watch it).
By the end of the film the chief investigating officer Ashwin
Kumar (played brilliantly by Irrfan) quits his job saying ‘Mujhse ab aur nhi hoga’. You empathize
with him and by this time you too give up believing, ‘Kuch nhi ho sakta iss desh ka’. But believe me that is not the purpose of the
film the purpose here is to tell you the facts and let you choose your own
version of truth and this truth defines your approach and attitude towards system,
society, life.
