Movie Reflection: Zakhm (1998)

Javed Akhtar says "All films originate from Mother India". He practices what he preaches. Doffing its hat to both the Oscar nominated classic and Dilip Kumar's Ganga Jamuna, his film Deewaar presents a similar tale of two brothers finding themselves on either sides of the moral compass (overtly denoted by a fork outside a temple). The brothers, divergent in life pursuits, converge at a single syllable cry: Maa!

The mother has always been an iconic part of literature, but a more fervent one of Bollywood. Why? Because it adds melodrama, facets of motherly devotion, religiosity, sacrifice and putting up with life's challenges with a brave smiling face. Mothers in Indian cinema are, or were for the most time, Gandhian, saintly and as innocent and pure as the biblical sheep.

But what happens when the sanctity of "maa" is challenged? Obviously, her more moralistic child wins, leaving the bad apple to die, repent or redeem. Also, the two of them are then critically analysed to death about their Oedipal nature. This is not me speaking, this is film legend.

"Mere paas maa hai" is a golden catchphrase. But why it weighs so high in its emotional quotient is because of the absent father. The father is either dead of poverty induced labour or ostracised from the community or turned faithless. Whatever the reason may be, he is just out of the picture, leaving the mother to fend for her two sons. This cliché is somewhat turned across in Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which chronicles a single father's adventures with his daughter. But then again, the tear-jerker is the "Maa" extempore.

All said and done, Bollywood puts the "ma" in its cinema.

What is Zakhm then? All of this, juxtaposed with the post Babri mosque demolition communal tensions. To make things more poignant, Mahesh Bhatt's story involves a Muslim woman having an illegitimate child with a Hindu man.

The woman gets caught in riots and is admitted to Holy Cross Hospital. And there we have Bollywood's secular track being played in full swing.

Nothing wrong about it! It's just that Yash Chopra had done this years ago in Dharmaputra, where Shashi Kapoor, the chocolate boy of the decade, had played a Muslim borne Hindu fundamentalist youth.

Even if the storylines are similar, Zakhm doesn't even stray away from the sensibilities of the 60s Partition film. We have the same fundamentalist and rationalist Hindu, the same ex-freedom fighter but now .insecure Muslim, and the same helpful Sikh. Basically, it has the same caricatures even in 1998. Or is it that riots bring humanity backwards?

Why watch Zakhm then? For its performances (Kunal Khemu takes the cake!), pace and melodious soundtrack, featuring the pathos filled "Gali Mein Aaj Chand Nikla".