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Friday, January 29, 2010

Road To Sangam: Review


A simple yet a powerful docu-feature, Road to Sangam is a gentle and heartwarming journey that takes you through the forgotten Gandhian values and principles. Like the khadi that Gandhiji interlaced, Road to Sangam is simple and uncomplicated.
Plot

Road to Sangam is a story of a devout Muslim car mechanic, Hasmatullah (Paresh Rawal), who runs a workshop in one of the prominent Muslim localities of Allahabad. He is also the secretary of the local mosque committee but doesn’t share a cordial rapport with the president Nawab Kasuri (Om Puri).

Things start to take a turn when one day he is entrusted with the job of restoring an old V8 Ford Engine within a week’s time. Hasmatullah is elated to take on the vintage machine, completely oblivious to the fact that it was the same engine that carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi to be immersed at the Sangam. As Hasmat works on his new assignment, a powerful bomb explodes in his town leading to the arrest of innocent Muslim youths.

Kasuri along with Maulana Qureshi (Pawan Malhotra) calls for a strike and orders the businesses to be shut as means of protest against the government. Hasmat joins the boycott only to realize the importance of work at hand. The vehicle is now being repaired to immerse a part of Gandhiji's ashes forgotten in a bank vault. It is now the wish of Gandhiji's surviving successor Tushar Gandhi that the last of the great man's ashes be immersed in the Sangam of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati.

Hasmat is in a fix. Will he support the protest and abandon the repair of the engine or go against the wishes of his community. Thus begins the journey of a true Muslim with a real Gandhian spirit.

Performance

Paresh Rawal as Hasmatullah is very convincing. As an obstinate motor mechanic, with a gentle soul driven by clarity of purpose steams no hindrance from religious extremism. Paresh as Hasmatullah is simply outstanding.

Om Puri’s portrayal as Mohammed Ali Kasuri is well-defined. Pawan Malhotra as the Maulavi who keeps provoking the committee in the name of religion deserves a special mention.
Debutant director Amit Rai’s effort in making a thought provoking film that simply carts the message of equality and humanity without getting clichéd is laudable. The story is gripping but the at times the pace is slow that gives the film a docu-feature feel.

The makers couldn’t have asked for a better time to release the film than a day before Gandhiji's death anniversary. If your platter is some meaningful cinema and not just sheer entertainment then, Road to Sangam is highly recommendable.

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