Maachis
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| Maachis | |
|---|---|
| Image:Maachis.jpg DVD cover for Maachis | |
| Directed by | Gulzar |
| Written by | Gulzar |
| Starring | Tabu Om Puri Chandrachur Singh |
| Music by | Vishal Bhardwaj |
| Release date(s) | Image:Flag of India.svg 25 October, 1996 |
| Running time | 160 minutes |
| Language | Hindi |
| IMDb profile | |
Maachis (English:Matches) was a 1996 Indian film directed by Gulzar. As the title of the film, is used as a metaphor that conveys that the youth of any nation are matchsticks that could get ignited due to the deficiencies in the political and policing systems. The film portrays the circumstances surrounding the rise of Sikh insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s, and traces the transformation of a youth from a next-door guy to a dreaded terrorist bent of wreaking vengeance for the wrong meted out to him.
The film tasted both critical and commercial success. Gulzar's direction and the music of Vishal Bhardwaj were strong points. To this day, many numbers from the film, partcularly Chappa Chappa Charkha Chale and Chhod Aaye Hum Wo Galiyan can be often heard playing on FM radio or TV channels. Bhardwaj went on to become a movie director, and has directed classics like Maqbool and Omkara in the recent past.
In more ways than one, Maachis is a film about what atrocities can drive a human to. It is looking back at the Punjab problem, and trying to figure out some of the root causes. It is looking forth and warning the future that there could be many more Punjabs--burning and suffering for years.
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[edit] Plot
Veeran (Tabu) is a young woman living in a prosperous village with her mother and her brother Jesse (Raj Zutshi); the latter is the best friend of Veeran's fiance, Kripal Singh, nicknamed "Palli" (Chandrachur Singh). When Jesse disappears into police custody following a routine house-search, his family endures a hellish fortnight of bureaucratic denials and anguished waiting. When he returns brutally scarred from torture, Palli abandons the village to seek, first, answers, and later, revenge, eventually falling into the company of Sanathan (Om Puri), a Hindu Punjabi who has taken up the terrorist cause. Slowly, the once-comfortable world of Palli and his extended family falls apart, to be replaced by the fictive kinship of the hunted members of a terrorist cell. [1]
[edit] Cast
Maachis had a congregation of some of the finest actors in Bollywood, besides a sparkling performance by Chandrachur Singh, a newcomer. The core cast is listed below.
- Om Puri as ... Sanatan
- Tabu as ... Veerandra
- Chandrachur Singh as ... Kripal Singh
- Kanwaljit Singh as ... Inspector Vohra
- Kulbhushan Kharbanda as ... Commander
- Raj Zutshi as ... Jaswant Singh Randhawa
- Jimmy Shergill as ... Jaimal
[edit] Awards
[edit] References
- ^ philip'sfil-umst. Maachis Hindi.
[edit] External links
Maachis at the Internet Movie Database
