Qissa – A Tale of Ambitions Versus Destiny!
By Suresh Nellikode
Although Qissa (The Tale) has been set amidst the turbulent
atmosphere followed by India’s partition, it carries a message of love, empathy
and honor. A folk tale well set in a rustic back drop of Punjab elaborately
explains the life of a normal village Sikh family and their deepest and
innocent human impulses. It’s a true
portrayal of the hardship faced by a family uprooted by the religious violence,
accompanied at the time of India’s partition, in a new set-up keeping their
honor to survive in there.
Repeated deliveries bringing in baby girls was a ‘shame’ to
many a caste and tribe in ancient India, which could have been traced even now.
A baby boy’s presence used to turn out to be a most sought after moment in many
of the communities to keep up their ‘prestige’. The families go along with the
follies of an invariably illiterate patriarch’s feudal whims. Qissa revolves
around many a juncture of emotional stress that was not purposely brought
forth. And the inevitable pranks of fate meet up with them at different abrupt
turns. Individual ambitions go helpless when it collides with the almighty
destiny, in life.
Qissa is a Punjabi story well said with a lot of visual feats.
Sebastian Edschmid, a German cinematographer was lavish in his inimitable
variety of presentations. Irrfan Khan, well known to the westerners even
through his Life of Pi, Slum-dog Millionaire , The Namesake, The Lunchbox
etc plays Umber Singh, the protagonist of the story, around whom the story
revolves. Tillotama shome, Rasika Dugal and Tisca Chopra have equally contributed
to the success of the movie and thus it certainly stands away from the
stultified social themes we keep getting. Madhuja Mukherjee joined Anup Singh,
the director, in contributing the screen play for Qissa.
Qissa, in short, carries a timeless tale, well told by Anup
Singh, a Tanzanian born Indian, with European collaboration. It’s the story of
how destiny takes up the upper-hand over human impulses and ambitions.
Qissa had its world premiere at Toronto International Film
Festival and brought in a NETPAC
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