Road to Sangam

A small low budget movie that almost no one has heard of – is one of the most nuanced, heart-warming tales I have seen. It is a story with loads of heart, which all of us need to see – if for nothing else, to remember who we are as a country. It is a commentary of our times, yet very gently, it questions our conscience about some of our society's beliefs. Story wise, it is like a children's parable, where everything ends well – the cynical among us might scoff at it. But Road to Sangam's achievement lies in its ability to make us look at each other, in a Gandhian way – something that we have long forgotten to do, despite Raj Kumar Hirani's best efforts.

In Allahabad, Hashmatullah is a sincere, god-fearing motor mechanic, well liked in the community - and is also the general secretary of his neighbourhood mosque committee. He is entrusted with repairs to an old Ford V8 engine, ignorant of its historical significance that it once carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi for immersion at the Sangam. He promises he would repair the engine and he would do it as soon as possible. But when some of his innocent neighbours are arrested by the police after some bomb blasts on suspicion of harbouring terrorists, the committee sends out a 'farman' to down shutters in the locality as a protest.

At this point, Hashmatullah comes to know the significance of the engine – and is stuck in a dilemma. One on hand, he wants to finish his work - but to open his shop, he would have to go against the mosque 'farman' and his 'quam'.

While on the face of it, it's a story of a common man stuck in a larger-than-life situation, Road to Sargam morphs into a story of how we need to find a common ground between our two communities – without stepping on each other toes. And the reason why Road to Sangam is such a fantastic movie is that it doesn't do or say anything explicitly – everything is gently suggested or implied. No flag waving jingoism, nor any flower-giving gandhigiri. Its so nuanced, it would take you a while before you figure out that it could even pass off as a patriotic movie! The star of the show is Paresh Rawal (who in the same week gave a langoor-looking performance in Rann). Its here that he shows us what wonderful performances he is capable of – because we are in a serious danger of forgetting it after his Priyadarshan movies. In Road to Sargam, he plays Hashmatullah with conviction – showing us the gradual move from doubt and confusion to resolve. Accompanying him in performance honours is Pawan Malhotra. Playing the jingoist maulvi, his high pitched nasal voice make him almost unrecognizable and very believable. Om Puri doesn't have much dialogues –and does competently.

It would give you an idea of how good or bad the movie is when you consider that Tushhar Gandhi (Mahatma's grandson) plays himself in the movie – for a considerable part (without dialogues though). Road to Sangam is a non-judgemental look into the collective paranoia of the Muslim society in India – and how sometimes it just requires a few voices of reason and some patience. The movie does have its fallacies – some of its scenes should have been written more tightly and the solution director Amit Rai provides is bordering on naïve. But these pitfalls do not distract from the appeal of the movie. Road to Sangam touches your heart with its sincerity and feeling. I repeat, it is something you shouldn't miss.

I write about movies regularly at http://bombaycinephile.blogspot.com

I've finished watching this film few minutes ago. The first thing I did was to come to this site (IMDb)and read the reviews. Seeing that only 7 reviews have been put up so far, I decided to register to this site not really to review but to pay tribute. I am not a critic and cannot comment on the technicalities of the film. I like what 'hits' me and this film has gone for the bullseye. This film sends out an extremely strong, thought-provoking message. I am in my twenties, I wear torn jeans and listen to western music but after watching this movie, somewhere inside I felt guilty. In one of the reviews here I read that only 5 people turned up to watch the film in a theatre which is just sad (and guys like us are to be blamed for it, no excuse). All I want to appeal to the director is (if he is reading the reviews here) to please not get bogged down and please keep gifting us with such thought provoking cinema as long as you can ( our country needs it !).

"Road to Sangam" affirms the proclamation that small budgeted movies are definitely better than gloss-glittered Chopra'raj & Johar-ism. The movie is straight out of heart, the execution is impeccable. Right from the first-frame it manages to grab the attention of the audience. Thanks to the Munnabhai MBBS, it has rekindled the Gandhi'sim into the audience. Road to Sangam makes a linear progression in the same direction.

Casting wise Paresh Rawal, Om Puri & Pavan Malhotra have been thrown in. Had Naseer been roped into the project, it would have been nothing short of casting-coup.

√ Paresh Rawal: Paresh Rawal should be applauded for the choice of roles he is taking on board, heterogeneous. The character of Anwar Bhai takes a while to build up momentum. Not exactly juxtaposition but more of corroboration that the hardship of Anwar Bhai were akin to struggle of Mohandas Karamchand.

√ Om Puri: There is no denying that he was in top form.

√ Pavan Malhotra:: The casting department should be applauded for selecting this unsung hero for the role of mullah. His body language and delivery is nothing short of perfection. One of late-comers from parallel cinema to embrace the mainstream commercial Cinema. But hey-ho, welcome!

√ Javed Sheikh was adequate.

The spirit of the city has been captured effectively. The story progresses quite naturally. For the first timer, the director surely knows his job well.

It would be fair to make a statement that "Road to Sangam" was not promoted enough. The word of mouth didn't quite help which is another setback. Its a shame to see duds like "Kurbaan" garnering moolah when a well-deserved movie like "Road To Sangam" perhaps deserves a little bit more attention.

It somehow seems like every other unconventional Hindi movie these days is aligned to either showcase Mumbai's undeniable spirit as a city that has seen the heights of mass peril or to herald a pro-Muslim message to those who might not already have heard it. Of the two, if we take a look at that rather colorful array of movies that have attempted to paint Islamic fundamentalism in a shade more palatable to the untrained layman palette, some great examples ('Aamir','Sarfarosh'), some decent instances ('Anwar','Yeh Hai Mera India','Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan') and some Herculean debacles('My name is Khan', 'Kurbaan') come to the foreground. Whilst all the aforementioned movies had varying degrees of success with portraying the life and times of an ordinary Muslim in today's India, there has never really been an attempt to juxtapose the Muslim community against Gandhi's backdrop. For that, 'Road to Sangam'(RTS) has my respect.

Now, I am not a hardcore Gandhian. I have read abundant material on the man, exhaustive literature on his legend and certainly seen a dozen variations of his mantra in recent celluloid years. Notwithstanding my personal views of the Mahatma, I was getting a tad frustrated at how almost every movie that used him as the nucleus, would invariably get so sugary at one point that one could die instantly from that lethal injection of diabetic shock. His message of global peace, non-violence and inter-communal brotherhood would be echoed way beyond the subtle reality it so desperately needed. Thus, making an erstwhile honest attempt, seem preachy and philosophical.

What makes RTS more authentic in such a stereotypical scenario is how it attempts to demystify the reasons why Maulwi saahibs and other patriarchal Muslims are screaming from atop mosque enclosures and what the everyday worker is hearing sitting in front of them, convinced that they know more about what being a true Muslim is. RTS dissects that so neatly that it takes your breathe away.

The premise revolves around Hashmatullah (Paresh Rawal), a renowned mechanic and a devout Muslim, who works out of his grease stained garage in Allahabad. He is the general secretary of his community's organization which is headed by one time friend Mohammad Ali Kasuri (Om Puri) and the local Maulwi Maulana Qureshi (Pavan Malhotra). Hashmat is a non-threatening fellow who sits in on rhetorical meetings spilling with the irate and cranky Maulwi's never ending rants about how Muslims are being targeted each day in today's India. Despite his ideology that are slightly different from that of his peers, he does not see the need to voice his philosophy in their presence. He nods his head, joins in their hymns and plays his role to the T.

And then one day a bomb goes off. A few prominent Muslims are arrested by the police and this sends shocks of rage across the community. They unanimously agree to shut down their businesses in protest of what they are convinced is a racist act. Hashmat, without a choice, reluctantly joins in not realizing that a recent project that has come his way, of fixing an age old Ford's rusty and dead engine, is in fact of the same vehicle that had once carried the Mahatma's ashes after his death in 1948. This, for a reason he cannot completely fathom, changes Hashmat's priorities.

On the one hand he does consider himself a true follower of the Koran and a blue blooded supporter of his organization. On the other, there is his conscience that continues to prick him into the confession that his little deed of helping the Mahatma's final bounty of ashes to be submerged into the Triveni Sangam (a spot where the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet), somehow seems like a more justified statement of Muslim being a faith of peace, rather than shutting off work and listening to a radically inclined Mullah each day. Thus, aware of the respect he knows he needs to pay to the man who was assassinated for being an open supporter of the Muslims, Hashmat prepares to face the wrath of his own kin by reopening his shop to fix the engine. Hashmat's personal journey of awareness lit brightly by the knowledge of the true meaning of Islam culminates with the Mahatma's final journey into the rivers of the country he fought so hard to liberate.

RTS is no average emotion-heavy movie that is high on religious jingoism without a clear degree of practicality. In fact, it is the most mature movie I have seen on the subject after 'Aamir'. If 'Aamir' was the attempt to present the true anti-thesis of a Jihadi, 'Road to Sangam' paves the way for more clarity on the difference between blind fanatic adherence to one's faith and the need to see the bigger picture. That bigger, brighter, and more appropriate picture.

I would definitely recommend a relevant film like 'Road to Sangam' purely because of the honesty with which it unfolds its theme.

I chanced upon this movie last week ... on Star Gold Select! Had never heard of the title but with Paresh Rawal and Om Puri in the frame, it seemed like a good choice to watch with nothing better to do at the time. It was indeed.

Road To Sangam is an interesting story, realistically shot, with beautiful cinematography and of course outstanding acting.

I confess that I do not know any more about Gandhi than what one had to per force learn by rote in school history, all long since forgotten. This movie kindled my interest and that alone says a lot for the film!

The last scenes of the truck proceeding slowly to the Sangam and the hordes of people, ordinary people, that came out to pay their respects, was really touching.

Thanks to the film makers for making such a movie which surely deserves a much wider audience. Do watch on the net or when it comes on TV. The 8 is only because it could have been a bit shorter.