Chand Bujh Gaya
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''Chand Bujh Gaya'' () is a 2005 Indian
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
-language drama thriller film directed by Sharique Minhaj in his directorial debut and featuring Faisal Khan and Shama Sikander in leading roles. The film is set against the backdrop of the 2002
Godhra train burning The Godhra train burning occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002, when 59 Hindu pilgrims and '' karsevaks'' returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in Gujarat, India. The c ...
. Both the
Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...
(CBFC) and its appellate authority, the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) refused to grant a certificate to the film. The film was released only after the
Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...
quashed the decisions of CBFC and FCAT.


Plot

Tusshar Mehta, a businessman, has arranged the marriage of his son Rahul to Meghna. However, Rahul is in love with Saveen, and Meghna steps away from the marriage when she learns of their love. Rahul and Saveen board the
Sabarmati Express The 19167 / 19168 Ahmedabad-Varanasi Sabarmati Express is an express train which connects the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat to Varanasi city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh through Jhansi. The train may take up to t ...
to meet her father Imran Jafri who lives in
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
. Before the couple reach their destination, the train is set on fire by a mob near Godhra Junction railway station. Escaping from the mob, they take refuge at the house of Payal, a journalist. The train burning sparks a communal riot. Differences emerge between Rahul and Saveen while they try to protect themselves from the riot, eventually succumbing to it.


Cast


Production

Film writer and lyricist
Faaiz Anwar Faaiz Anwar (born 9 March 1965) is an Indian poet and lyricist who has written songs for popular movies including Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Saajan, Tum Bin, Jab We Met, Dabangg, and Rowdy Rathore. Career Anwar entered the Hindi music indu ...
co-produced the film, made in five months and with a budget of Rs. 1.75 crores. He stated that the story was "truth ... gathered through numerous newspapers". The film was the directorial debut of Sharique Minhaj, who was working as an equipment supplier for a television channel during the
2002 Gujarat riots The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence or the Gujarat pogrom, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The Godhra train burning, burning of a train in Godhra on 27 Fe ...
. ''Chand Bujh Gaya'' marked the first collaboration between Faisal Khan and Minhaj. They would later come together for '' Chinar Daastaan-E-Ishq'' (2015).
Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Mahesh Bhatt, a number of accolades, including four Nati ...
had warned Anwar, stating: "you have put your hands in dynamite, not fire". The character based on
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
, Chief Minister of
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
, was played by Pratap Singh, who was subsequently offered the same role in a television serial, which he declined. In a 2007 interview, Anwar called the film "an attempt to bring about a sense of understanding between Hindus and Muslims". Some scenes of the film were shot in
Silvassa Silvassa is a city and the headquarters of the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district in Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in western India. It is today the largest city in the union territory. The city was chosen as one of t ...
, the capital of the then
union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...
of
Dadra and Nagar Haveli Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a district of the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in western India. It is composed of two separate geographical entities: Nagar Haveli, wedged in between Maharashtra and Gujarat states; and ...
.


Certification controversy

The producers had applied for a censor certificate in September 2003. The Examination Committee of the
Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...
(CBFC) initially refused to certify the film, fearing that certain visuals and dialogues in the film may have the "danger of inciting communal violence". Upon discussion with the committee, the filmmakers removed certain scenes, reducing the footage to from . Despite the cuts, the committee refused to certify the film, citing that "the Gujarat violence is a live issue and a scar on national sensitivity. Exhibition of the film will certainly aggravate the situation". One key objection made by the board was the likeness between the film's villain and Modi. The CBFC had also denied certificates to two documentaries based on the 2002 Gujarat riots:
Rakesh Sharma Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, AC (born 13 January 1949) is an Indian cosmonaut and a former Indian Air Force officer. He flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. He is the first Indian citizen to ...
's ''
Final Solution The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...
'' and Rakesh Pimple's ''Aakrosh''. The producers expressed their inability to make any further cuts to the film as that would "dilute the message of communal harmony" the film intended to portray. To this, the CBFC, in January 2004, finally refused to grant certification to the film in its existing form. The producers filed an appeal against the CBFC's decision before the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) in April 2004; FCAT found the CBFC's decision correct and affirmed that the depiction of explicit violence and resemblance of its characters to real-life people could ignite communal violence and "public disharmony". Rakesh Sinha, a Tribunal member, stated: "There seems to be a sort of ideological prejudice in the making of the film"; he felt that it gave the impression that the "Chief Minister asengineering the riots". He added that one character in the film "not only looks like Modi, he talks and moves like him", and the film "deliberately" targeted the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...
. The producers refused to cast another actor for the role of the Chief Minister. The filmmakers petitioned the
Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...
against the decisions of CBFC and FCAT as encroachment on the right to free speech and expression. A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice
Dalveer Bhandari Dalveer Bhandari (born 1 October 1947) is an Indian jurist. He is currently one of the judges of the International Court of Justice. He is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and former chief justice of the Bombay High Court, he was als ...
and Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud viewed the film and reached the conclusion that the "theme of the film is the absolute insensibility of violence. The film does not extol violence nor does it condemn any community as having taking recourse to violence". In ''F.A. Picture International v. CBFC AIR 2005 Bom 145'', the bench observed that CBFC's and FCAT's refusal to grant a certificate to the film was a "clear infringement of the fundamental right of the producer under Article 19(1)(a) of
the Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
", and said they had "misconceived the scope and function of their powers and jurisdiction". The bench in its judgment dated 5 November 2004 directed the CBFC to grant appropriate certification to the film.


Release

''Chand Bujh Gaya'' was released on 18 March 2005 with a U certificate, implying unrestricted public exhibition. However, the Chief Minister of
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
,
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
, banned the film within Gujarat.


Soundtrack

In its review of the film's soundtrack album, ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' noted that the title song " auseddiscomfort" but was appreciative of the three songs: "Chupke Chupke De Jaati Hai Pyaar Ka Paigaam Teri Yaadein", "Rehta Nahin Hai Chand Kabhi Chandni Se Dur", and "Zulf Meri Lehrai Re", calling them "pretty soft and romantic". It opined that from a child's perspective, the song "Yeh Apna Hindustan" " idsound good" and "Yaad Aaye woh Din" was a "mood melody".


Reception

Upon its release, ''Chand Bujh Gaya'' performed poorly at the box office. According to
Box Office India Box Office India is an Indian film website dedicated to tracking, reporting, and analyzing the financial performance of films released in the Hindi entertainment industry. Established in 2003, Box Office India has become a prominent source of ...
, the film had a worldwide first-week collection of and a worldwide gross of approximately .


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 0487148 2005 thriller films 2005 directorial debut films 2005 films Films about the 2002 Gujarat riots Films shot in Gujarat Indian films based on actual events Indian thriller films Silvassa Cultural depictions of Narendra Modi Films shot in Daman and Diu Indian interfaith romance films Film censorship in India Political controversies in India Censored films Political controversies in film Works subject to expurgation