Chand Bujh Gaya

Last updated

Chand Bujh Gaya
Chand Bujh Gaya.jpg
DVD cover of the film
Directed bySharique Minhaj
Written by
  • Zuben Dr.
  • Qamruddin Falak
Produced by Faaiz Anwar
Starring
CinematographyTaposh Mandal
Edited byRanjan Suryawanshi
Music by
Production
company
F.A. Picture International
Release date
  • 18 March 2005 (2005-03-18)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹1.75 crore (US$220,000) [1]
Box officeest.₹15.5 lakh (US$19,000) [2]

Chand Bujh Gaya (English: The Moon Is Eclipsed) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language drama thriller film directed by Sharique Minhaj in his directorial debut and featuring Faisal Khan and Shama Sikander in leading roles. The film is set against the backdrop of the 2002 Godhra train burning. [3] Both the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and its appellate authority, the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) refused to grant a certificate to the film. The film was released only after the Bombay High Court quashed the decisions of CBFC and FCAT.

Contents

Plot

Tusshar Mehta, a businessman, has arranged the marriage of his son Rahul to Meghna. However, Rahul is in love with Saveen, and Meghna steps away from the marriage when she learns of their love. Rahul and Saveen board the Sabarmati Express to meet her father Imran Jafri who lives in Ahmedabad. Before the couple reach their destination, the train is set on fire by a mob near Godhra Junction railway station. Escaping from the mob, they take refuge at the house of Payal, a journalist. The train burning sparks a communal riot. Differences emerge between Rahul and Saveen while they try to protect themselves from the riot, eventually succumbing to it.

Cast

Production

Film writer and lyricist Faaiz Anwar co-produced the film, made in five months and with a budget of Rs. 1.75 crores. He stated that the story was "truth ... gathered through numerous newspapers". [1] The film was the directorial debut of Sharique Minhaj, who was working as an equipment supplier for a television channel during the 2002 Gujarat riots. [5]

Chand Bujh Gaya marked the first collaboration between Faisal Khan and Minhaj. They would later come together for Chinar Daastaan-E-Ishq (2015). [6] Mahesh Bhatt had warned Anwar, stating: "you have put your hands in dynamite, not fire". [1] The character based on Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, was played by Pratap Singh, who was subsequently offered the same role in a television serial, which he declined. [7] [8] In a 2007 interview, Anwar called the film "an attempt to bring about a sense of understanding between Hindus and Muslims". [9]

Some scenes of the film were shot in Silvassa, the capital of the then union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. [10]

Certification controversy

The producers had applied for a censor certificate in September 2003. [11] The Examination Committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) initially refused to certify the film, fearing that certain visuals and dialogues in the film may have the "danger of inciting communal violence". [12] Upon discussion with the committee, the filmmakers removed certain scenes, reducing the footage to 10,966 feet (3,342 m) from 11,602 feet (3,536 m). Despite the cuts, the committee refused to certify the film, citing that "the Gujarat violence is a live issue and a scar on national sensitivity. Exhibition of the film will certainly aggravate the situation". [12] [13] One key objection made by the board was the likeness between the film's villain and Modi. The CBFC had also denied certificates to two documentaries based on the 2002 Gujarat riots: Rakesh Sharma's Final Solution and Rakesh Pimple's Aakrosh. [14] The producers expressed their inability to make any further cuts to the film as that would "dilute the message of communal harmony" the film intended to portray. To this, the CBFC, in January 2004, finally refused to grant certification to the film in its existing form. [12]

The producers filed an appeal against the CBFC's decision before the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) in April 2004; FCAT found the CBFC's decision correct and affirmed that the depiction of explicit violence and resemblance of its characters to real-life people could ignite communal violence and "public disharmony". [15] [16] Rakesh Sinha, a Tribunal member, stated: "There seems to be a sort of ideological prejudice in the making of the film"; he felt that it gave the impression that the "Chief Minister [was] engineering the riots". [17] He added that one character in the film "not only looks like Modi, he talks and moves like him", and the film "deliberately" targeted the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. [18] The producers refused to cast another actor for the role of the Chief Minister. [17]

The filmmakers petitioned the Bombay High Court against the decisions of CBFC and FCAT as encroachment on the right to free speech and expression. A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud viewed the film and reached the conclusion that the "theme of the film is the absolute insensibility of violence. The film does not extol violence nor does it condemn any community as having taking recourse to violence". [12] [15] In F.A. Picture International v. CBFC AIR 2005 Bom 145, the bench observed that CBFC's and FCAT's refusal to grant a certificate to the film was a "clear infringement of the fundamental right of the producer under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution", and said they had "misconceived the scope and function of their powers and jurisdiction". The bench in its judgment dated 5 November 2004 directed the CBFC to grant appropriate certification to the film. [12] [19]

Release

Chand Bujh Gaya was released on 18 March 2005 with a U certificate, implying unrestricted public exhibition. [20] [21] However, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, banned the film within Gujarat. [1] [22] The film was dubbed into German and titled Der verloschnene Mond. [23]

Soundtrack

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicPerformer(s)Length
1."Yaad Aye Woh Din, Jaane Kyon Tere Bin" Faaiz Anwar Kanak Raj Hariharan  
2."Chupke Chupke De Jaati Hai Pyar Ka Paigham Teri Aankhen"Faaiz AnwarGhani Kumar Sanu, Pamela Jain 
3."Rehta Nahin Hai Chand Kabhi Chandni Se Dur"Faaiz AnwarGhulam Ali Kavita Krishnamurti  
4."Chand Bujh Gaya"Faaiz AnwarKanak RajKumar Sanu 
5."Tujhey Zindagi Ki Tarah"Faaiz AnwarKanak RajPreetha Mazumdar 
6."Yeh Apna Hindustan"Faaiz AnwarKanak RajKinnari 
7."Julf Meri Laheraai Re"Faaiz AnwarKanak Raj Vaishali Samant  

In its review of the film's soundtrack album, The Hindu noted that the title song "[caused] discomfort" but was appreciative of the three songs: "Chupke Chupke De Jaati Hai Pyaar Ka Paigaam Teri Yaadein", "Rehta Nahin Hai Chand Kabhi Chandni Se Dur", and "Zulf Meri Lehrai Re", calling them "pretty soft and romantic". It opined that from a child's perspective, the song "Yeh Apna Hindustan" "[did] sound good" and "Yaad Aaye woh Din" was a "mood melody". [24]

Reception

Upon its release, Chand Bujh Gaya performed poorly at the box office. According to the Indian film trade website Box Office India, the film had a worldwide first-week collection of ₹10.00 lakh (US$13,000) and a worldwide gross of approximately ₹15.52 lakh (US$19,000), thus earning the label of "disaster". [2]

Rohit Murari wrote in his 3-star review for Fullhyd.com that the film "scores a few points - for its blatant honesty" and Sikander was the "best thing to have happened to the movie". He found the film's music a "typical B-grade affair" and concluded his review by saying: "[T]here [was] no clear, or even unclear, objective behind making the movie". [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narendra Modi</span> Prime Minister of India since 2014 (born 1950)

Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician who has served as the 14th prime minister of India since May 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organisation. He is the longest-serving prime minister from outside the Indian National Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godhra</span> City in Gujarat, India

Godhra is a municipality in Panchmahal district in Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Panchmahal district. Originally the name came from gou which means "cow" and dhara- which have two meanings depending on how you pronounce the word: 'dharaa' means a feminine thing or person that "holds" something and it usually means"land", and the other pronunciation is 'dhaaraa' in which means "flow". However, the second pronunciation is not popular nor is usually associated with this word. Hence, 'Godhra or Godharaa' means the Land of the Cow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teesta Setalvad</span> Indian activist and journalist (born 1962)

Teesta Setalvad is an Indian civil rights activist and journalist. She is the secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an organisation formed to advocate for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Board of Film Certification</span> Film certification body of India

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952." The Cinematograph Act 1952 outlines a strict certification process for commercial films shown in public venues. Films screened in cinemas and on television may only be publicly exhibited in India after certification by the board and edited.

The Godhra train burning occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002 when 59 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat. The cause of the fire remains disputed. The Gujarat riots, in which Muslims were the targets of widespread and severe violence, occurred shortly afterward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Gujarat riots</span> Sectarian violence in the Indian state

The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, is cited as having instigated the violence. Following the initial riot incidents, there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad for three months; statewide, there were further outbreaks of violence against the minority Muslim population of Gujarat for the next year.

Final Solution is a 2004 documentary film directed by Rakesh Sharma concerning the 2002 Gujarat riots in the state of Gujarat in which 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed. Hindu right wing organizations were responsible for these riots, who claimed that their actions were in fact a "spontaneous response" to the demise of 70 Hindu Pilgrims in the Godhra Train Burning by a mob on 27 February 2002. But as the film proceeds with victims continuing to come forward and share their experiences, a more unsettling possibility seems to emerge- that far from being a spontaneous expression of outrage. The makers of the film claim that the violence had been carefully coordinated and planned.

Rakesh Sharma is an Indian documentary filmmaker. His most notable work is the feature-length documentary Final Solution on the 2002 Gujarat riots. Rakesh Sharma spent his formative years in Agra, before moving to Delhi to finish school and college education. He started career as television journalist in 1986. He graduated from SRCC, University of Delhi in 1984 with a BA Honours (Economics) degree. He studied MA in Mass Communication from Jamia Millia Islamia MCRC in 1986.

<i>Jai Shri Ram</i> Phrase meaning "Hail Lord Rama", often chanted in Hinduism

Jai Shri Ram is an expression in Indic languages, translating as "Glory to Lord Rama" or "Victory to Lord Rama". The proclamation has been used by Hindus as a symbol of adhering to Hindu faith, or for projection of varied faith-centered emotions.

Religious violence in India includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting. Religious violence in India has generally involved Hindus and Muslims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ehsan Jafri</span> Indian politician

Ehsan Jafri was an Indian politician and former member of the 6th Lok Sabha for the Congress Party, who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shama Sikander</span> Indian Actress

Shama Sikander Ali Gesawat is an Indian actress, best recognised for her lead roles in the TV series Yeh Meri Life Hai, the short film Sexaholic, and the mini-series Maaya: Slave of Her Desires. Sikander has appeared in numerous Bollywood films, including starting her career with the 1999 Aamir Khan film Mann. Her last theatrical release, Bypass Road, a Bollywood thriller, was released on November 8, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. B. Sreekumar</span> Indian police officer

R.B. Sreekumar is a former Gujarat State Director-General of Police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulbarg Society massacre</span> Massacre of a Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad during the 2002 Gujarat Riots

The Gulbarg Society massacre took place on 28 February 2002, during the 2002 Gujarat riots, when a crowd started stone pelting the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in the eastern part of Chamanpura, Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat. Most of the houses were burnt, and at least 35 victims, including a former Congress Member of Parliament, Ehsan Jafri, were burnt alive, while 31 others went missing after the incident, later presumed dead, bringing the total deaths to 69.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naroda Patiya massacre</span> Massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots

The Nanavati-Mehta Commission is the commission of inquiry appointed by the government of Gujarat to probe the Godhra train burning incident of 27 February 2002. Its mandate was later enlarged to include the investigation of the 2002 Gujarat riots. It was appointed on 6 March 2002, with K. G. Shah, a retired Gujarat High Court judge, as its only member. It was later re-constituted to include G. T. Nanavati, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India, after protests from human rights organizations over Shah's closeness to then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Akshay H. Mehta, retired judge of the Gujarat High Court, replaced Shah when the latter died before the submission of the commission's interim report. Mehta was the same judge who had granted bail to Babu Bajrangi, the main accused of the Naroda Patiya massacre.

Rahul Sharma is an ex Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Gujarat cadre turned practicing lawyer with Gujarat High Court. He was inducted into the service in 1992. He played a crucial role in policing operations during the 2002 Gujarat riots. He was seconded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2004, and served there for the next three years. Later, he served as the DIG at Rajkot, Gujarat until seeking voluntary retirement from active service in 2015.

Gujarat: The Making of a Tragedy is a book about the 2002 Gujarat riots edited by Siddharth Varadarajan.

<i>Shorgul</i> 2016 Indian film directed by Pranav Singh

Shorgul (transl. Uproar) is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language political thriller film, set against the backdrop of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots; it is directed by Pranav Kumar Singh The film is produced by 24 FPS film Pvt Ltd. The film stars Jimmy Sheirgill, Suha Gezen, Ashutosh Rana, Narendra Jha, Anirudh Dave, Sanjay Suri, Hiten Tejwani and Eijaz Khan in lead roles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Siddiqui, Rana (11 March 2005). "Waiting for the moon" . The Hindu . New Delhi. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Chand Bujh Gaya". Box Office India . Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Ashraf, Syed Firdaus (2 October 2002). "The Gujarat factor". Rediff.com . Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum - Television". www.tribuneindia.com.
  5. ↑ "Chand Bujh Gaya maker plans film on Abdul Lateef". Hindustan Times . Indo-Asian News Service. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  6. ↑ "Aamir Khan's brother Faisal set for Bollywood comeback with Mental". Hindustan Times . 31 July 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  7. ↑ Salam, Ziya Us (13 August 2004). "Ideology shackled" . The Hindu . Chennai. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Khosla, Mukesh (10 November 2002). "Once is enough!". The Tribune . Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  9. ↑ Shah, Prerna (7 September 2007). "All sorts of songs find a way in: Faaiz". The Times of India . Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  10. ↑ @khanvelresort (6 October 2016). "Silvassa has over 2,00,000 populace & famous Bollywood movies "Phool Aur Kaante" & "Chaand Bujh Gaye" was shot in the city!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 23 November 2020 – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ "Pass riots film without cuts, HC tells censors". The Times of India . 6 November 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "F.A. Picture International vs Central Board Of Film ... on 5 November, 2004". IndiaKanoon.org. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  13. ↑ Shah, A. P. (25 November 2011). "The most precious of all freedoms". The Hindu . Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  14. ↑ Sen, Swagat (22 August 2004). "The unkindest cut". The Telegraph . Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  15. 1 2 Godbole, Sagar (15 June 2016). "Before 'Udta Punjab', five other movies that were rescued by the courts". Scroll.in . Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  16. ↑ "Padmavati banned in Gujarat, UP: 22 films that shared the same fate as Sanjay Leela Bhansali film". Hindustan Times . 23 November 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  17. 1 2 "CBFC rejects film on Gujarat riots". Outlook . Press Trust of India. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  18. ↑ "Hindu boy meets Muslim girl on Sabarmati Express to Godhra...Cut: The Indian Express". Zee News. 13 July 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  19. ↑ "HC tells Censor Board to give certificate to film on Guj riots". Outlook . Press Trust of India. 5 November 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  20. ↑ "Chand Bujh Gaya (U)". The Times of India . Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  21. ↑ "About Us". Central Board of Film Certification. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  22. ↑ "Bollywood gets 'Modi'fied". Deccan Chronicle . 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  23. ↑ "Chand Bujh Gaya - Der verloschnene Mond [DVD][Region 2] (Import) (Keine deutsche Version)" (in German). Amazon.de . Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  24. ↑ "Metro Plus : Chords & Notes" . The Hindu . 3 May 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  25. ↑ Murari, Rohit. "Chand Bujh Gaya Review". Fullhyd.com. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.