The Indian movie `Black Friday` is about the 1993 Mumbai blasts and is based on a book by S Hussein Zaidi. The film zooms in on the stories of people who made up the larger canvas of that catastrophe, of those who were involved in the hateful conspiracy and of those who finally found the ugly roots of the cackling fire that left our city scarred. It follows the journey of Rakesh Maria brilliantly played by actor Kay Kay Menon, then assistant police commissioner, whose incessant efforts uncovered the details of the conspiracy. It follows the psyche of Badshah Khan played by Aditya Shrivastava who assisted this hateful crime in the name of religion and finally having realized its magnitude, confessed, and also revealing the kings and pawns of this plot. His confession is still regarded by Police Commissioner Maria as one of the most detailed and elaborate leads that helped them crack the case. The Bollywood Movie `Black Friday` follows the story of the Bombay blasts in what can be described best as a journalistic chronicle that uses the slideshow of events from history but zooms in on an episode no one had thought of or pondered over before.
The producer Arindam Mitra first wanted to make a television serial on the book but over a period of time after mammoth research the director Anurag Kashyap made the film `Black Friday`, which has created history in the Indian film industry.
Synopsis of Black Friday
The Indian movie `Black Friday` is a film about the investigations following the March 12, 1993 serial Bombay bomb blasts, the story is told through the different stories of the people involved such as police, conspirators, victims and middlemen. The film starts three days before the bombing takes place. At the start of the film i.e. on March 9, 1993, Gul Mohammed, a small time thug, during his chance-arrest confesses that there is a conspiracy underway to bomb major locations around the city at Nav Pada police station, Bombay. But the police dismisses his confession, and three days later, Bombay is torn apart by a series of explosions leaving 257 dead, and close to 1500 injured. Investigators discover that the bombs were made of RDX, smuggled into the city with the aid of customs officials and the border police. It can be get by a large amount of illegal money. In turn, the film traces the motive for the blasts to the Bombay Riots, which is the term used to describe the bloody warring between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the period from December 1992 to January 1993, which left over 1500 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The `Bombay Riots` was an unprecedented outburst of violence and abuse, resulting in enormous emotional trauma whose office is burnt to cinders during the riots. The suffering of the Muslim minorities in the riots incites a meeting of underworld leaders in Dubai, who then take it on themselves to and property loss. Tiger Memon, (played by Pawan Malhotra) is one of the chief inflamed, suggests an attack on Bombay as the strongest message of retaliation, thus leading to Black Friday, March 12, 1993. After the blast an abadoned vehicle is found which is filled with explosives and weapons. The vehicle was registered under the name of `Rubina Memon` who is Tiger`s sister-in-law. After two days i.e. on 14th March Asgar Muqadam, Tiger Memon`s secretary is arrested. He is beaten till he gives all the information he knows about the bomb blasts, and that intiates a full police inquiry. Deputy Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria who is currently Inspector General of the Maharashtra Police is put in charge of the case. Between March and April his men searched the victims everywhere. The lock ups are filled with all suspects like Mushtaq Tarani, Parvez Shaikh, Abdul Ghani Turk, Imtiaz Ghavate and Shoaib Ghansare. The next successful step was the arrest of Badshah Khan played by Aditya Shrivastava, one of the henchmen who had left Bombay and gone into hiding but on May 10, 1993 is eventually worn out by the running and is found by the police. After questioning by rakesh Mehra he admits being a part of the conpiracy but he also continues to justify his actions.
Meanwhile, it has been found that there is still a large amount of RDX explosive stashed in the city. A man named Yeda Yaqab Khan is responsible for keeping and later because of some tension he moves it to other location. After eighteen days of the blast i.e. on 30th march local youths stumble upon part of it. This is of course a good fortune for the investigators. That person Yeda turns informer for the poilce and offer`s information on the whereabouts of the rest of the RDX in exchange of some favour. Badshah Khan realizes that there is no justification for his acts, and decides to become a police witness. He explicitely tells the story behind the blast. He describes how they went to Pakistan for training, his first meeting with Tiger Memon and so on. On 4th November 1993, the police file a charge sheet against 189 accused. The Central Bureau of Intelligence takes over the case. On 5th August 1994, Tiger`s brother, Yaqub Memon, willingly turns himself in to the authorities. In a candid Newstrack interview on national television Yaqub states that it was Tiger and his underworld associates who orchestrated the conspiracy. And Tiger Memon has now disappeared from the scene. Till date Tiger Memon is absconding from the hand of the police. It is very shocking how after one incident on 12th March 1993 afternoon sieged the city and suddenly everybody became either Hindu and Muslim while before explosion they were just people of Bombay. Many were departed from their relatives. This film is definitely calls for a standing ovation.
Cast and crew of Black Friday
The star cast of the film include Kay Kay Menon, Pavan Malhotra, Aditya Srivastava, Kishore Kadam, Gajraj Rao, Zakir Hussain, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, etc. The film is directed by Anurag kashyap while produced by Arjun Bagga and Arindam Mitra. Music is given by Indian Ocean i.e. a band while cinematography is done by Nataraja Subramaniam.
Awards of Black Friday
Black Friday was nominated for the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival.
