Garam Hawa
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Garam Hawa (lit. Scorching Winds) is a highly acclaimed 1973 Hindi/Urdu production about plight of a North Indian Muslim family in the years following Partition of India. Garam Hawa is often credited with pioneering a new wave of alternate or art cinema movement in India. The movie also launched the career of Farooq Shaikh.
Set in Agra, India in late 1940s, Garam Hawa is a socio-political drama about a Muslim family headed by an elderly shoe manufacturer, Salim Mirza. Salim (Balraj Sahni) is struggling to come to terms with changed realities after many of his family and friends migrate to Pakistan.
As head of the family, Mirza is facing a crucial choice to make, whether to continue the ancestral business and stay on in India or to migrate to the newly-formed state of Pakistan. Salim's brother Halim and his family migrate to Pakistan. Halim's son Kazim tries to return to India illegally across the border to marry Salim's daughter and gets arrested.
As the refugees from Pakistan start competing with Salim's business, the moneylenders refuse to invest in his business, as he might emigrate to Pakistan. Amina, Salim's daughter commits suicide after yet another lover leaves her to go to Pakistan. In face of perceived discrimination, Salim Mirza finally decides to leave the country. On the way to the station, the family come across a communist rally proclaiming the unity of all the dispossessed, regardless of religion or caste. Salim's son, Sikandar (Farooq Shaikh) abandons his emigration plan and joins the rally.
[edit] Cast & Crew
- Direction: M. S. Sathyu
- Screenplay: Kaifi Azmi, Shama Zaidi
- Cast: Balraj Sahni, Dinanath Zutshi, Badar Begum, Geeta Siddharth, Shaukat Kaifi, Farooq Shaikh
- Cinematography: Ishan Arya
- Music: Bahadur Khan
