Black Friday

This is not only a film. It's a lesson. It's a message. It's cruelly true history. It's an initiative. It's an attempt. It's a bold step, forward. It's known yet untold bare truth. And after all it's a film.

No doubt the film opens old wounds, but only to find the root cause of it, only to find cure for them, only to make sure they are eradicated and never surface again. The film presents the hard facts about the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai (then Bombay). The film gives a new dimension to real life cinema, with real name, real incidents, and real people. The usage of actual news footage of the incidents make you believe whatever you are watching. It takes courage to take names of some of the biggest name in underworld and Indian politics as bluntly, and the filmmaker shows that courage. The story doesn't point finger on any particular person, group or community as the culprit for what is still Indian crime history's biggest tragedy. It tries to make a point how some clever minds make their business out of our religious sentiments, at the cost of lives of common men. Men who are common in every sense of it. The terror, the attacks, the explosions, the riots inhales not any particular community but the whole humanity.

Director churns out a stunning effort. Technically too the film is impeccable. The blast sequences couldn't have got any more realistic. Each actor performs his character to full honesty, but Badshah Khan and Tiger Memon stand out.

And before you jump to your own conclusion to decide the culprit(s), to decide the fate of them, the film concludes with the quote that says it all.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

A must watch.

It saddens me that posters on this thread have the need to brand this as a 'bollywood' movie. the brilliance that is ' black Friday' is so far,far,far removed and so many million times better than any of the dross that conventional ' bollywood' could ever even HOPE to produce makes 'bollywood' a throughly inappropriate branding for ' black Friday'.

for me, 'black Friday' is paving the way for what Indian cinema *should* be doing more of....that is, challenging it's audience and offering some intellectual stimulation.

I realise that the Indian cinema public's demand is overwhelmingly for ' boy meets girl, boys long lost brother/best friend also loves the same girl, they have a fight, then they realise they are brothers and engage in a 30 minute dance recital', type of bullshit, but Indians are becoming more sophisticated and I for one cannot wait for the more serious and discerning productions to come from India that truly challenges the mind and senses.

'Black Friday' in this regards represents a HUGE turning point for Indian cinema.

don't miss it..it's a must see movie on so many levels.

I remember watching the trailers of Black Friday a couple of years ago and making it a point to watch it.Never before has anyone dared to approach such a controversial issue so blatantly,which is probably why it worked.The events that are depicted in this movie shook not only the city of Bombay but the nation as a whole.To add to the documentary-like look at the blasts of '93,director Anurag Kashyap has done a brilliant job of elucidating moving,intense performances from fine actors like Kay Kay Menon and Aditya Srivastava. Technically, Black Friday is more visionary than most Hindi movies ever made.It did not have exotic locations,an ensemble star cast of the most high profile actors in the industry,or an unlimited budget,all of which are necessities for an Indian movie.The use of complex Steadicam shots,slow motion and hand-held cameras really put the movie into a different perspective.The use of lighting in situations such as the interrogations being bathed in red light also helped set the mood required to really go into the depths of all the stories of the main characters which have been intricately woven together with finesse. Hats off to Mr. Anurag Kashyap for bringing such a fine piece of art to Indian cinema.Seems like the time spent with Mr. Mani Ratnam,the greatest Indian director ever to get behind a camera,is paying off.This is evident in the tinge of patriotism and realism portrayed.Personally i hope guys with vision like this continue bringing quality to Indian cinema.It really needs it.

Mr. Anurag Kashyap,

Take a bow! Black Friday is sincerely the greatest piece of cinematic magic to be released ever. You and your team have produced cinema of the highest quality, raised the notch by a few miles and used this medium like never before, hats off to you sir!

I must admit that I am slightly biased toward your film because I have been born and brought up in Bombay and on March 12, 1993 (the day of the serial blasts) was just 8 years old. As Salman Rushdie famously calls children born during the era of Indian Independence as "Midnight Children", i would like to say we are but "Blast Children". Children whose innocence has been shattered mercilessly by the underworld and extremists from every religion and you have portrayed just that in your film.

The film does not hype terrorism or romanticize the darkness of Bombay or the coldness of its police like many other so called underworld films do but portrays exactly what happens in reality, the human side. Sir, your film has merged the very shady line between cinematic magic, fiction and reality to an intoxicating mix of actuality.

Pawan Malhotra (Tiger Memon), Kay Kay (Rakesh Maria) and Aditya Srivastava (Badhshah Khan) do not act, they live and breathe the very sentiments of these real life people. As a viewing audience I never once felt like I was watching a film, but felt like a 'fly on the wall' as the plot unfolds before your very eyes, the very same helplessness as Mumbaikars felt on that very day of the bomb blasts. The music by Indian Ocean is outstanding, it flows as easily as your reel does and blends so very brilliantly with the script.

The cold chill that trickles down your spine as Dawood Ibrahim is shown in his mansion in Dubai is breathtaking. The authenticity of Bombay and its various locations from fast food restaurants in Bandra to the passport office in Worli is worth many many accolades.

Mr. Kashyap, this film has struck the very chord of life in cinema once more. I'm sure everybody who watches it will share similar sentiments as I do. I am glad that the 2 year dustbin wait for your film did not deter you from eventually getting it released. You are not alone sir, the world supports your work with open arms. The silver screen is worth visiting again. Thank you sir and take a bow again..

Yours sincerely, Aditya

Anurag Kashyap is one of the best directors working in the Hindi film industry. I loved films like Ugly and Raman Raghav 2.0 and hearing this was one of his best, I had to check it out.

Black Friday tells the story of the 1993 bomb blasts through the perspectives of the police, the perpetrators and everyone else involved.

I find it fascinating how this film got pushed back so much and after seeing it, I can understand why. Based on the detailed book by Hussain Zaidi, Black Friday goes through everything leading up to the event and the aftermath and does it in a brutally honest manner. This film is risky and it's risky because it uses all the names of the people involved. Kashyap tried to make this a truly honest depiction of what was going on and that's what makes it really hardhitting. Without sugarcoating anything, Black Friday remains an interesting watch as we see the ins and outs of the bomb blasts. The film has many characters and trying to juggle everyone's story isn't an easy task but Kashyap does his best here and gives each important character ample screen time.

Considering the film's budget limitations, this film still manages to capture the horrific nature of the blasts. Once it happens, seeing how it disturbs everyone's lives and the amount of dead bodies shown covered in blood is very intense and handled very realistically. I loved the use of red during the interrogation scenes as it increased the intense nature of the scene. The film isn't flawless. There are a couple of audio and editing issues. I think the 2 hour 40 minute runtime is a bit too long and occasionally loses steam during some parts but Black Friday is riveting most of the time.

What really excels in this movie are the performances and I think everyone was terrific. Kay Kay Menon did a great job. I really felt the seriousness of his character during those interrogation scenes. Aditya Srivastav also did a fantastic job as one of the terrorists. The standout though was Pavan Malhotra as Tiger Memon. He owned every scene he was in. It was also really surprising to see a lot of well known people who were unknown at the time like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Gajraj Rao and Imtiaz Ali.

Black Friday is a fantastic study on the 1993 bomb blasts and it's very impressive considering the low budget they had to work with. I would recommend giving it a watch.