Ek haseen Qissa

Jasmine Singh

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It might stay with you for a long time; appearing and reappearing when you imagine. You might just want to dismiss it or probably blacklist it with a complete denial, but the ghost of Qissa is definitely going to haunt you, once you have faced it.

Director Anup Singh, who took almost 15 years to make this project come alive, has given a metaphorical image of what largely happens in society. Through his film Qissa, he presents a legend, without completing untangling it, leaving much too how you would want to unwind, or tie it up.

Starring Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tallotama Shome and Rasika Dugal, the film opens with Irrfan Khan as the narrator of the film. The obsession for a male child is how a layman would understand Qissa, which indeed it is. The obsession of Umer Singh (Irrfan Khan) to not accept his fourth daughter as a daughter, as he ends up bringing her up as a male child — Kanwar, played by Tillotama — is how and where the Qissa spreads. It is dark, it is grim and it shows the complete denial of a father, who goes to the extremes, and for sure there is no coming back from it.

The screenplay written by Anup Singh, co-written by Madhuja Mukherjee meanders through the dark alleys of Partition, through a family that resurrects after the horrid incident, through the heart of a mother (Tisca Chopra) who is helpless; finally detaching and slipping through an unreasonable romance, satiating the longing of a father and then melting into the ghost of the unknown.

Here, if you are mindful, this Qissa is for you, but you definitely need to be there to get to the philosophical core of the film. German cinematographer, Sebastian Edschmid has created a Punjab, which would topsy-turvy many memories.

Creating an impact with every word, every frame is actor Irrfan Khan, irrationally rationalising his son-fixation. The actor will take you through the ebb and flow of the story (but you can’t deny you have to go along with him). Tisca Chopra, plays Irrfan’s wife, a woman who doesn’t have a choice despite being thoroughly protective about her daughters. It is then that Kanwar (Tillotama) takes over who steals the show, as a ‘he’ rather than a ‘she’.

You cannot help notice the plight of the gypsy girl, Neeli (Rasika Dugal), as she says, main ek kudi naal pyar kar baithi. The actress successfully expresses her foolishness and dilemma. The ensemble cast of Qissa slips into their dark and trapped characters with finesse.

The story moves at a pace, only to hit an undulating surface, where we see a ghost! This is where you mindfulness will come to your rescue.

jasmine@tribunemail.com