Review – Garam Hawa (1973)

Cast – Balraj Sahni, Faaroq Sheikh, Gita Siddharth, A.K Hangal

Direction – M.S. Sathyu

I went to a video store to purchase this film.

Me: Do you have a DVD or VCD or Garam Hawa?

Store Owner: What? Which film?

Me: Garam Hawa starring Balraj Sahni

Store Owner: [leans forward to say something in my ears] Is it a XXX film?

I was annoyed as well as embarrassed at the same time. I didn’t know how to react to that question. So I just left that shop with a grin on my face.

It is very sad to see such classics are now forgotten. Balraj Sahni, one of the finest actors who always took me by surprise with his realistic performances (Waqt, Do Bigha Zamin, Kabuliwala) is no longer in people’s memory and they own video stores. For them Balraj Sahni might have starred in a XXX film. Sad indeed.

Anyways, Garam Hawa very aptly titled, is a film about the consequences a joint Muslim family has to face after India gets its freedom. Balraj Sahni plays the character of Salim Mirza, and we see him dropping yet another family member to the station. He is headed to Pakistan because of the problems Muslims are facing in India. His elder brother Halim Mirza. who once talked of never leaving India, also gives up and leaves India. And hence Salim Mirza is a witness to all the problems his family was facing and leaving India or dying one by one. And the Joint family isn’t joint anymore.

Joint Family Scene

Not that Salim Mirza himself is facing fewer problems. The project he had taken up is given to some other company; he is asked to leave the house where he stays. But despite facing so many problems he still is determined enough to not leave his OWN country. Even his fellow Muslims go against him, to ease their stay in India. Problems only keep growing in his family because of an unmarried daughter and an unemployed son in the house.

The story of Amina, the unmarried daughter, is very well handled in the film. She loves Kazim Mirza, who too goes to Pakistan because of the problems, but promises to come back for her. Despite Kazim Mirza trying his best to marry Amina, it doesn’t happen. And then after giving up all hopes on Kazim, Amina finds love in Shamshad who appears to be a spoilt person at first. But then again, love fails because of the hot winds that are blowing.

The film’s USP is the story and its flow. Supported by some very fine performances from the cast, Balraj Sahni, Faaroq Sheikh, Gita Siddharth, A.K Hangal to name few, the film moves very slowly just like slow hot wind and slowly shows how the family members are giving up one by one and leaving India. The screenplay though linear, is still very well written, fitting in the romantic story of Amina with the context of the film beautifully. The background score of the film is very good and suits the film’s situations perfectly.

Though the film had a great story, music and performances, the direction I felt was a bit mismatched. The story of the film never suited the experimental filmmaking the director chose. The scene at Fatehpur Sikri where Amina finally accepts Shamshad’s love(see the video above) was shown with a triple effect(same thing repeated thrice just one after the another), an effect which we see whenever a hero jumps off a tall building in a 80’s masala Bollywood film. Then whenever we had Balraj Sahni or Faaroq Sheikh either asking for a house to live in or a job, the person they were asking to, were never shown. Instead Balraj Sahni and Faaorq Sheikh were seen talking to the camera. I don’t know if that was to imply that even we would have reacted similarly at that time. But I don’t think those experiments suited the film.

Talking to the camera - Giving an impression that he is talking to you(viewer)

The film is a must watch. Recommended to everyone. In fact those people who aren’t too much into technical aspects of filmmaking would not even mind that experimental filmmaking the director chose, as the story itself will keep them very much engaged.

8/10. Though it’s a 10/10 in terms of story and had the director not chosen experimental filmmaking.