Chandrachur Singh in Maachis (1996)

Cast: Tabu, Chandrachur Singh, Om Puri, Jimmy Shergil, Suneel Sinha, Ravi Gossain

Director: Gulzar

Music: Vishal Bharadwaj

Lyrics: Gulzar

Capsule Review: Gulzar’s most politically vibrant film takes us straight into the rise of extremism in Punjab anti-Sikh riots after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. The director takes us into the life of one family ripped apart by the brutal blows of terrorism. Debutant Chandrachur Singh who plays a victim of the cruel police excesses, through the quasi-philosophical tutelage of the extremist played by Om Puri, turns to terrorism. A large part of this haunting film delineates the protagonist hiding with his fugitive friends (played by Shergil, Gossain and Sinha) in picturesque Himachal Pradesh with his devoted girlfriend (Tabu in a National Award-winning performance). The film builds up to a devastatingly tragic finale depicting the sheer futility of terrorism. One of Hindi cinema’s most powerful political parables, Maachis saw Gulzar moving determinedly away from his characteristic lyrical style to explore a political crisis. An extraordinarily rich music score by debutant Vishal Bharadwaj (Lata Mangeshkar’s Pani pani re shot on the outstandingly expressive Tabu remains one of the singer’s most lucidly articulated songs) added to the powerful impact.