TIL Desk Bollywood/ The trailer of “Raazi”, Meghna Gulzars eagerly awaited follow-up to “Talvar”, is so stunningly persuasive that my first though was, what took you so long?
This true-life story of a valorous Indian Muslim girl who risked her life by marrying a Pakistani and moving to the neighbouring country to spy for her own, is a story that was waiting to be told. Wonder why it took so long? Perhaps a spineless apolitical generation of Indian filmmakers were afraid to tell a story that raises questions of nationality and patriotic pride.
And then there is Meghna Gulzar. What took her so long to blossom as a filmmaker? After two false starts, “Filhaal” and “Just Married”, she erupted into a newly-forged self expression with “Talvar”.
Now in “Raazi”, which opens in May, Meghna’s telling of the story of Sehmat, the unsung hero who crossed the border in 1971, seems so structurally apt and urgent, it’s like a perfectly ripened fruit waiting to be plucked. Perhaps this particular political peach was waiting to be plucked only when Meghna collaborated with Alia Bhatt.
