Two turrets of a Hindu temple flank a crescent moon. A man tiptoes down the stairs, slings a saffron pouch, and rides off. At the ghat, he offers the first nawaz of day. Not the most subtle start to a film on Hindu-Muslim harmony, but arriving as it is in the India of today, feels just about right.
Zaigham Imam’s Nakkash tells the story of Allah Rakha Siddiqui (Inaamulhaq), a Muslim engraver commissioned to design the inner sanctum of a Varanasi temple. Siddiqui’s ancestors have professed this tradition for years under the patronage of trustee Bhagwan Das Vedanti (Kumud Mishra), but changing times have compelled the master craftsman to arrive in disguise, dressed as a Hindu man. Siddiqui’s caution is two-fold: a single father, he fears not only for his life and that of his son’s, but is also afraid to bring further shame on his community that has ostracised him for working for the opposite quam.
Like his debut, Dozakh in Search of Heaven, Imam has a lot to say about communal tensions in Uttar Pradesh, but approaches his new film calmly. There’s the stillness of Iranian New Wave cinema in the early scenes. Some details are fetching: the boy calls his father’s best friend ammi; a man reciting the Gayatri Mantra in Urdu gets confused for singing a qawwali.
The film’s main conflict builds up in the second half, when a newspaper article on Allah Rakha causes local politician Munna Bhaiya to lose his candidature. There are direct references to lynching and encounter killings, as well as the majoritarian politics played by a certain party. It all feels very urgent and nonpartisan, until a mural of Akhilesh Yadav pointlessly pops up over lines of flattering dialogue.
Limited to talking heads, the cast is mostly fine. Pawan Tiwari plays Munna Bhaiya like Spike The Bulldog. Inaamulhaq makes the most of his rickety persona portraying a helpless man (few Bollywood actors embody the common man like he does, nodding his head and saying, Sahi baat hai just to get out of a weighty conversation).
The performances become dull after a while, and so does the script, which feels the need to cook up plot twists as it goes along. Nakkash is a well-intentioned film that does not overstate its bravery, but suffers on account of length and lack of dramatic drive.
One scene strikes a chord. “Who is Bhagwan?” asks the protagonist’s son. “Allah miya ke bhai,” comes the reply. It’s the closest and purest comparison one has ever drawn of universal brotherhood, and perhaps that’s what makes it so effective. Sometimes a nation needs to be taught like a child.
Cast : Inaamulhaq, Kumud Mishra
Rating : 3/5