Chand Bujh Gaya | |
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![]() DVD cover of the film | |
Directed by | Sharique Minhaj |
Written by |
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Produced by | Faaiz Anwar |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Taposh Mandal |
Edited by | Ranjan Suryawanshi |
Music by |
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Production company | F.A. Picture International |
Release date |
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Running time | 116 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Budget | ₹1.75 crore (US$220,000) [1] |
Box office | est.₹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.
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.
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]
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]
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]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Performer(s) | Length |
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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 Anwar | Ghani | Kumar Sanu, Pamela Jain | |
3. | "Rehta Nahin Hai Chand Kabhi Chandni Se Dur" | Faaiz Anwar | Ghulam Ali | Kavita Krishnamurti | |
4. | "Chand Bujh Gaya" | Faaiz Anwar | Kanak Raj | Kumar Sanu | |
5. | "Tujhey Zindagi Ki Tarah" | Faaiz Anwar | Kanak Raj | Preetha Mazumdar | |
6. | "Yeh Apna Hindustan" | Faaiz Anwar | Kanak Raj | Kinnari | |
7. | "Julf Meri Laheraai Re" | Faaiz Anwar | Kanak 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]
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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R.B. Sreekumar is a former Gujarat State Director-General of Police.
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.
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.
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