''Anwar'' () is a 2007 Indian romantic thriller film written and directed by Manish Jha, who is famous for his work in '' Matrubhoomi''. The film stars the siblings Siddharth Koirala and

Manisha Koirala Manisha Koirala (; born 16 August 1970) is a Nepali people, Nepalese actress who works in Cinema of India, Indian films, predominantly in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil. Born to the politically prominent Koirala family, she is the daughter of ...

along with

Rajpal Yadav Rajpal Naurang Yadav (born 16 March 1971) is an Indian actor and comedian. His breakthrough came in Ram Gopal Varma's ''Jungle'' (2000) with a negative role. Although Yadav has gained widespread recognition for his slapstick comic performances ...

and Nauheed Cyrusi. The songs "Maula Mere Maula" and "Tose Naina Lage" are two of the most popular songs of 2007. The movie is most notable for featuring Siddharth Koirala.

Plot

Anwar is from a middle-class

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

family in Lucknow, India, living with his mother and sister Suraiya. Anwar is researching ancient

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

s. The family rents out a room to a poor widow and her daughter, Mehru, whom Anwar falls in love with. Anwar is certain of Mehru's love for him, but Mehru has her heart set on settling in America. She is tired of the

dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

, the summer heat, and the struggles and tragedy of her poverty-stricken country. Anwar tells Mehru it is not possible for him to take her to the U.S. Even if he works all day, it is impossible and out of his financial reach. Mehru expresses her interest in Udit, an engineer who has plans to settle in America. Mehru begins a relationship with Udit, which one day is revealed to Anwar. Anwar visits Udit, who tells him of his plan to marry Mehru before going to the US as his visa is ready. Anwar tells him that he should think once again before doing this because of the difference in their religion, as Mehru is a

and Udit is a follower of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. If Mehru's strict and conservative family members come to know about this, they will shatter the dreams of Mehru and Udit, and their lives will not be spared. Seeing that Udit has ignored his warning, Anwar confesses his feelings to Mehru when they meet on the terrace, and he begs her not to leave him. He cannot imagine his life without her, but Mehru says that she never loved Anwar. Mehru runs away with Udit. Later, seeing Mehru's mother cry her heart out for her daughter, Anwar impulsively tells her and the family that she has run away with a Hindu man. Mehru's uncle, along with 2 other men, finds the two youngsters, shoots Udit, and brings the injured Mehru back home. Mehru commits suicide at the tragedy of Udit's death. A guilt-ridden Anwar takes shelter in an ancient Hindu temple in

Dholpur Dholpur is a city in the Dholpur district in Rajasthan state of India. It is situated on the left bank of the Chambal river. The city is the administrative headquarters of Dholpur district. Dholpur was established by King Dhaval Dev of the ...

, carrying a bag containing drawings of

mandirs A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

and notes on

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

, Mirabai, and Mehru. This bag ends up with the police, who come to the conclusion that Anwar is a terrorist who is planning to detonate bombs in sacred Hindu temples. The temple is surrounded by the police, politicians who are anxious to win the Hindu vote, the media, and a huge crowd drawn by the spectacle. Set against the post-9/11 scenario, amidst the craze for

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and the American way of life, Anwar must now examine his options. In the end, Anwar is fatally shot by the cops, and while dying, he has a vision of himself as Krishna and Mehru as Meera, reuniting with each other.

Cast

* Siddharth Koirala as Anwar * Nauheed Cyrusi as Mehreen "Mehru" *

as Anita *

as Gopinath * Vijay Raaz as Master Pasha * Yashpal Sharma as S.P. Tiwari *

Hiten Tejwani Hiten Tejwani is an Indian television actor known for his work in several fictional shows. Early life and family Hiten Tejwani was born into a Sindhi Hindu family. Hiten Tejwani married his '' Kutumb'' and ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' ...

as Udit * Sudhir Pandey as Minister * Pankaj Jha * Lalit Tiwari *

Rasika Dugal Rasika Dugal (born 17 January 1985) is an Indian actress known for her roles in several Indian movies and television productions. She made her screen debut with a small role, in the film '' Anwar'' (2007) and went on to star in many criticall ...

as Deepti * Sanjay Mishra as Director in the Film * Prithvi Zutshi as CM * Sharat Sonu as Gardener

Themes

The film set in Lucknow is about

Racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

of Muslims in the post-

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

era. The film was inspired by the director's experience in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

two days after the 9/11 attacks when he was detained by the police and interrogated for five hours, who presumed him to be a Muslim, since he was unshaven and had long hair. Film is based on the story ''Falgun Ki Ek Upkatha'' written by Priyamvad.

Production

The film was directed by Manish Jha with Faiza Ahmad Khan, Arghya Lahiri, Rishab Seth, and Meghna Sethy as assistant directors. It was shot in Kakori, Bakshi Ka Talab and

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

in April 2006.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Mithoon and Pankaj Awasthi, released on

Saregama Saregama India Ltd is an Indian music record label and content company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the oldest music label in India, established in 1901 as the Indian branch of the British Gramophone Company. It later became ...

label.

Reception

Vipin Vijayan of '' Rediff.com'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, stating "Movie is strictly okay, the saving graces are the music and cinematography". Taran Adarsh of ''

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is an Indian entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides n ...

'' rated it 1 out of 5 stars, stating "Anwar tries to make a statement, but too many sub-plots in the screenplay spoil the show. The songs are sure to appeal to the connoisseurs of good music and called 'Maula Mere' and 'Tose Naina Lagey' standout winning tracks by composer Mithoon. Cinematography is up to the mark".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anwar 2007 films 2000s Hindi-language films 2000s romantic thriller films Indian romantic thriller films Films set in Uttar Pradesh Films about Islamic terrorism in India Films about jihadism Films scored by Mithoon Films shot in Lucknow Indian interfaith romance films Films set in Lucknow Encounters in India Films about murder Films about police brutality