Qissa - The Tale of a Lonely Ghost

Of 17 movies that I saw at the Mumbai International Film Festival this was the first.  Anup Singh is a Tanzanian Indian director (if it registered correctly in the Q&A after the movie) who has taken forever (the better part of the previous decade) to make this movie that centres itself around yet another unique topic.  I have gathered after my first experience at a Film Festival that the stories / concepts are just out of the world.  In many cases – just like with Qissa, the execution adds to the magic of cinema.

Qissa is yet another movie out of the several that were showcased at MIFF that may never get a commercial release because of several reasons.  To begin with, the story is not something that even the above average audience will relate to.  Lets be kind and say that the audiences will not be able to accept – relating to is the next step in the process and we, as a culture are far away from that.

Umbar Singh (Irrfan Khan) is your average ordinary everyday father from the early part of the 20^th Century in Punjab.  At the time of the partition (1947), his wife gives birth to their 3^rd daughter.  Umbar – like most fathers in that era is all but distraught.  After all, a son carries the family name forward and is essential to also earning.  A daughter is only cause for expense and will anyways move to a different house eventually.

When the fourth child is born, Umbar doesn’t bother to even consider that it could be a girl child.  He brings her up as Kanwar Singh – a boy – and goes to great lengths to ensure that the secret is restricted to just him and his wife (Tisca Chopra).  Of course, when Kanwar starts growing up, he shows signs that raises many an eyebrow but Umbar brushes most them off nonchalantly.

Qissa is an intense tale that explores several aspects that would have existed in the Indian society of over 60 years ago but never came to the fore thanks to people like Umbar Singh and the society in general.  Of course, it explores the sexuality between two women – one who is unaware of the fact that she is a woman and another who is disgusted at first but eventually is drawn to this very predicament. This is my 2^nd reason why it may not find a cinematic release.

The third reason for not releasing in a hall is the pace of the movie.  While it is less than 2 hours in length, it is a very very slow movie.  The dialogues are also at a pace that is close to a drawl and not just the rough, heavy voice of Irrfan Khan that is causing it.  An aspect that Anup Singh could have addressed before the final cut.

Having called all these out, I still believe that the courage with which Anup Singh has handled a sensitive yet bold topic like this one is commendable.  He is helped immensely by the 3 ladies who were simply outstanding – Tisca Chopra as Umbar Singh’s wife, Tillotama Shome as the grown up Kanwar Singh and the revelation for me – the gorgeous and super talented Rasika Duggal as Neeli.

If not for anything else, watch Qissa to see what acting should be.  Every member of the cast was in character throughout – no mean task to achieve.  Of course, it deserves to be seen also because despite being set in period that is several decades ago, the problems continue to exist and are part of our day to day life.  7 on 10 for certain.  You will need a lot of patience but watch if you are upto it.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORO6Zp0oHDU