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Black Friday : Movie Review
09th Feb 2007 22.50 IST
By Nikhil Kumar

Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday is a hard-hitting movie that revisits the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which more than three hundred people died and many were injured. Audaciously and uncompromisingly, Anurag goes deeply into the terror attacks and probes its reasons and aftermath.

The movie, based on journalist S. Hussain Zaidi’s book, is not a documentary. But it compellingly documents the build-up to the blast and the ensuing investigation by the police. It goes into the lives of key players like Tiger Memon (played by Pawan Malhotra ), his henchman Badshah Khan (Aditya Srivastava) and ACP Rakesh Maria ( Kay Kay Menon ), who investigated the case.

In the opening reels itself, Anurag comes to the point. A blast on Dalal Street rocks the bustling Bombay Stock Exchange. And within hours, a series of blasts occur at various sites in Mumbai. Dead bodies, amputated limbs, blood smattered debris, shell-shocked survivors – the movie shows it all with unapologetic boldness.

The narrative of ‘Black Friday’ is multi-layered. Alongside the bomb blasts, the film also documents the journey of an angry, revenge seeking Muslim youth, Badshah Khan, from Delhi to Rajasthan and still further. Anurag pays a lot of attention to this character as it signifies the angst among Muslim youths.

Then there is also Tiger Memon, the main accused, who spells out the reasons for the attacks at the film’s fag end.

On the other hand, the movie also focuses on Additional Commissioner of Police, Rakesh Maria, who interrogates and cross-examines a number of suspects behind the blasts. Here, too, Anurag audaciously shows the methods and tortures used by the cops to get to the heart of the case.

Taking least possible cinematic liberty and retaining objectivity throughout the film, Anurag Kashyap tells a compelling and disturbing story in ‘Black Friday’. He also imbues the movie with different colour tones, makes some visuals grainy for the required effect and uses the background music (and even silences) to recreate the horror of the terror attacks that scarred many lives.

Besides Kashyap’s superb direction, ‘Black Friday’ rests on strong performances by almost every single actor in it. Pawan Malhotra, as the intense and revengeful Tiger Memon, is brilliant. Kay Kay Menon, as ACP Maria, is outstanding. Aditya Shrivastava enacts his part of angry youth with conviction.

Actor Vijay Maurya plays a small but effective role as the underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Other actors like Arbaaz Ali and Zakir Hussain are competent.

In a nutshell, ‘Black Friday’ is a disturbing movie that may reopen some old wounds. But it is worth one’s while to re-examine the ‘truth’ behind the heinous attacks.

Strongly Recommended.

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