Known for films like Drohkaal (1994), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) and Aarakshan (2011), Anjum Rajabali is a well-regarded screenwriter in Indian cinema. He was the script consultant for Mulk (2018) and Article 15 (2019). These are four movies that he recommends as a must-watch for budding filmmakers.
Garam Hawa (1973)
This movie is extremely significant to our current political climate.
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I think Garam Hawa was the first film that considered the point of view of Muslims who stayed back [after Partition] and paid the price eventually. Until then, nobody was looking at this angle. It shows how anger, resentment and prejudice was used against the very people who chose to stay back, as if they were being punished for taking a stand. The striking quality of Garam Hawa is its last shot, where the message is: ‘We all have to participate in the struggle for nation building’.
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It is a movie directed by one of my favourite filmmakers — Govind Nihalani.
Aakrosh deals with the life of an ordinary citizen who aspires to become a lawyer. He doesn’t believe in the fractured judiciary until he takes up a case which, he feels, he is going to lose. In trying to win, he unearths stories of how people from less-privileged backgrounds are exploited by those in power. Govind Nihalani feeds these little pieces of information through sharp dialogues.
Court (2015)
It held a mirror to our society in the most dispassionate, unsentimental and non-judgemental way.
Chaitanya Tamhane, I feel, is an extremely promising filmmaker. He took the simple case of a bard who writes songs attacking the system. There is one particular scene that lingered with me. It is where the public prosecutor goes to watch a movie that deals with prejudices. In that one scene, Chaitanya proved that members of the court are people who get influenced by prevailing prejudices against minorities. Court brought out the disturbing aspects of the judicial system in the most entertaining fashion.
Article 15 (2019)
Like Aakrosh, I think Article 15 made a significant statement on caste-based discrimination.
Here, you have a reluctant police officer (played by Ayushmann Khurrana) who turns a blind-eye to deep-rooted casteism. He is disinterested at first, but sinks his teeth in as he uncovers truth about violence against Dalits. As he investigates the case, he realises that crimes against Dalits emerge out of a larger system of prejudice and caste violence. I am aware of the criticism around the ‘Brahmin saviour’ template, but Article 15 drove home an important point. Ultimately, he loses in the war against casteism.
(As told to Srivatsan S)