Muhafiz-In Custody(1994)

Tushar | Qwiki | October 6, 2008 at 11:22 am

A must-watch for lovers of Urdu, Shashi Kapoor in a memorable turn and the bygone small-town India that graces may be few archives now.
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4 Comments

Aditya Pant says:

October 8, 2008 at 8:06 am

Faiz’s poetry was used beautifully in this film.

Aaj bazaar mein pa ba-jaulan chalo
Dast afshaan chalo mast-o-raqsaan chalo
Khaak bar sar chalo khun ba-damaan chalo
Rah takta hai sab shahr-e-janaan chalo

I felt Shashi Kapoort was perfectly cast in the role of an ageing poet symbolizing the decline of the Urdu language.
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Tushar says:

October 8, 2008 at 8:51 am

Glad to have you drop by this one, Aditya. I had been waiting to discuss this film and its poetic leanings with you. I saw the making in the extra features and came to know about Faiz, and how Shabana loved the role. I will probably watch the shaayari portions again, would love to read the book as well. The songs, though not great ‘composition’ wise, were quite richly instrumented, thanks to Zaakir Hussain, Sultan Khan, and a bevy of ‘new’ singers – Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan apart from the seasoned Suresh Wadkar.
Loved the way how Shashi Kapoor colored his character in the much cynical indifference, uske beech mein when poetry reigned supreme, it was pure ecstasy. Great supporting cast too, Parikshit Sahani, Sushma Shreshtha, Neena Gupta…
Quite a neglected film, this.
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vatsal says:

October 30, 2008 at 11:45 am

truly one of the finest in merchant ivory collection…n besides shashi kapoor, found om puri and shabana azmi’s characters equally well etched which were executed to perfection…the struggle between noor sab’s whims, the (in)congenial conditions in his household n ofcourse proper functioning of the tape had that thetrical element of wit n dry humour
another film that i’m reminded of – ‘Chabi Wali Pocketwatch’…a diploma film done by some ftii grad that i chanced upon…similar symbolic theme and equally brilliant in its cinematic appeal..
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Tushar says:

October 30, 2008 at 11:54 am

@ Vatsal, so true. The tape(or the lack of it) was surely a character. Have never heard about Chabi wali Pocketwatch. Would like to watch it/read about it.
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