Road to Sangam

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 !).

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 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.

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.

*this review contains no spoilers* I went to watch Road to Sangam only knowing that it was a film with a connection with Gandhi and had won some awards. What transpired on the screen in the next 135 minutes changed my perception of Gandhi and changed me as a person. I am some one who did not regard Gandhi in the high esteem a lot of people regard him in. He, to me, was some one who was adamant and threatened the nation with his blackmails which were carried out promptly by his followers. What I did not understand was that it was the power of Gandhi's thoughts which made people act the way they did. It had reason, it had logic.

Coming to the film. We are given a rationale and the film makes a strong case for it. You almost start believing in the thinking behind it. Then, there is a slow process of change which is so slow and gradual. It is not some thing which happens right away or through a flash bulb of genius. It is realization in process. The way the change is shown is convincing enough for some one to believe in the Gandhian principle.

The film has many layers to it. It is a film which asks 'what defines Karma'. It is a film about holding upright the faith Gandhi showed in the muslims of India. It is a film about how a person be it a Muslim or a person of any religion (or even an agnostic or atheist for that matter) should behave. That's the bigger picture.

Then the film touches on tough subjects like partition and the role of an Indian Muslim. Many layers and subjects touched, all given due space.

Paresh Rawal is excellent in the role of a man who works based on logic and is principled at the same time. I can't think of a better actor to carry out the role. The part of a Muslim from the state of Uttar Pradesh, perfect with the local accent, who has his own little mannerisms and characteristics is played perfectly. The facial expressions are not exaggerated. The lines are spoken with a calm balance about them, exactly how the character would say it.

The pace of the movie is neither fast, nor slow. It has it's own rhythm and flows rather than moves. The cinematography is excellent with aspects of small town India (the city Allahabad in this case) shown. There are panoramic views and then there is attention to detail. A man making aloo tikki is shown for instance to capture the flavour of the chaat which is so popular in small town India.

Coming to Gandhi films, I have seen quite a few. Gandhi was a great biographical sketch. Gandhi My Father shows the flaws of Gandhi - the father of his son. Lage Raho Munnabhai which was so popular tries to explain the Gandhi way of thinking and does a fair job of it. It has the bollywood masala mixed in it, was perfectly marketed and was a huge success. Gandhigiri became a trend. Sardar, again starring Paresh Rawal (as Sardar Patel), paints Gandhi as a principled, yet stubborn man whose will might have cost India There are umpteenth movies which are presented as documentaries on Gandhi, most of which are holistic. No movie portrays Gandhism, like Road To Sangam does. At least none I have seen.

The show I went for was almost canceled as only one other person showed up at the ticket counter. In the end, just five of us came to watch the movie which they did screen thankfully. One engineer who had studied from Allahabad itself remarked that Gandhism is dead as no one turned up for this movie. I remarked that Munnabhai was a huge success. So it is a marketing flaw and lack of funds which meant audiences didn't come to watch this film. There is another aspect to it. It isn't a masala flick like many other bollywood flicks or like Munnabhai. It is not boring in any way, mind.

I give the movie a perfect 10/10. Don't think it could have been made better.

I just hope more people see it. So go see it and spread the word!