Firaaq follows the life of several ordinary people, some who were victims, some silent observers, and some perpetrators one month after the 2002 violence in Gujarat. It focuses on how their lives are affected and changed. The story is set over a 24-hour period, one month after a carnage that took place in Gujarat, India in 2002. This sectarian violence killed more than 900 Muslims and 300+ Hindus, hundreds of thousands were made homeless on both sides. Khan Saheb is an elderly Muslim classical vocalist, who remains blissfully optimistic of the situation happening around him. His servant, Karim Mian, tries to alert him to the problems the Muslim community is facing, but Khan Saheb only realises the extent of the trauma upon seeing the destruction of a shrine dedicated to the Sufi saint, Wali Gujarati. A middle-age Hindu housewife, Aarti, is traumatised because she did not help a Muslim woman being chased by a mob and finds a way to atone for her sins upon finding Mohsin, a Muslim orphan who wanders the city in search for his family. Meanwhile, her husband, Sanjay, and his brother, Deven, try to bribe police officers to prevent Deven's arrest for gang-rape. Muneera and her husband Hanif, are a young Muslim couple who return home only to find it looted and burnt. Muneera struggles to relate to her Hindu neighbour Jyoti in the following days, as she suspects her for taking part in the looting. Hanif, along with several other Muslim men, plan to retaliate against the violence and their helplessness by searching for a gun to exact revenge. Sameer Shaikh and Anuradha Desai are a wealthy, interreligious couple, whose store was burnt during the carnage. They decide to move to Delhi to escape the violence and Sameer comes into conflict with his wife's family over expressing his identity as a Muslim in India. Through these characters we experience the consequences of violence that impact their inner and outer lives. Violence spares nobody. Yet in the midst of all this madness, some find it in their hearts to sing hopeful songs for better times.
Composed by Piyush Kanojia and Rajat Dholakia, the lyrics of the songs are penned by Gulzar.
Reception
Firaaq won top honours at the Asian Festival of First Films 2008 in Singapore, where it won the awards for "Best Film", "Screenplay / Script", and "Foreign Correspondents Assn. Purple Orchid Award for Best Film". The film has won awards at other international festivals, including the Special Prize award at the InternationalThessaloniki Film Festival in Greece, the Special Jury Award at the International Film Festival of Kerala, and the Best Editor award for Sreekar Prasad at the Dubai International Film Festival. It won an award at the Kara Film Festival in Pakistan. Gautam Sen for "its perfect use of props and choice of colours to enhance the ambience of a post-riots" won National Film Award for Best Art Direction. A. Sreekar Prasad also won a National Film Award for "aesthetically weaving together unrelated sequences to heighten the dramatic impact" in the Best Editing category at the 56th National Film Awards. It was released in India on 20 March 2009 and received critical acclaim. Taran Adarsh in his review of the film on Bollywood Hungama called it disturbing, powerful and thought-provoking and gave it 4.5 stars out of five.
