Released in 2013, Hansal Mehta's biographical drama film 'Shahid', starring Rajkummar Rao, about a slain human rights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi represented tangible progress in terms of departing from the one-dimensional (and often negative) portrayal of Muslims that Bollywood all too often produced.
Mehta chose to tell the story of the young Mumbai-based criminal lawyer, who was a vocal critique of the dismal situation of India's criminal justice system and represented a number of Muslim youth accused in terror cases, with such surprising restraint that it set the new benchmark for the Hindi cinema.
In 'Shahid', we see the life of an ethical revolutionary who never compromises his morals and core values when attempting to reach his goals. His commitment to exposing the truth is inspirational while his willingness to acknowledge his past when faced with new realisations is as refreshing as it is rare.
At the age of 14, deeply affected by the Bombay riots of 1992, Shahid, played by Rao, briefly joins a militant organisation based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. But soon after, he is detained under India's anti-terror laws, and later, placed in Tihar Jail on alleged charges of conspiracy to kill former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
The film further depicts Shahid's subjection to physical as well as psychological torture in the jail, where he spends over six years of his life. The long and harsh prison sentence has a positive rather than a negative influence on Shahid, who finishes his graduation while in jail and acquires a degree in law immediately after his release.
The film finally shows his development as a public activist and his controversial representation for one of three men accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that culminates with his murder in his office.
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With his exemplary litigation skills, Shahid secures as many as 17 acquittals in a mere seven years of practice. But the best part about the film is that all the while, it doesn't transform Rao's Shahid into some kind of cinematic god-saviour. He is still projected as a driven young man who is fighting for social justice.
He sees more hope than threat in defending those wrongfully accused in cases of terrorism as Rao rightly points out in the film: “I'm as opposed as you are to terrorism, but that doesn't mean that we can put innocent people in jail without any evidence.”
The film, which saw the light of the day after a string of challenges, has an unsettled route to the screen, reflecting both the enduring difficulty of telling the stories about minorities, and the complexity of depicting the life of such a vital figure.
In an old interview with BBC, Mehta had spoken at length about why he felt compelled to tell the story of Shahid, revealing that the scene, wherein Rao's face was blackened by assailants outside a court room, was "a re-enactment of an incident from my own life."
"Shahid Azmi rose from humble origins to become a symbol of hope for all those who were at the receiving end of potential miscarriages of justice," Mehta had said.
The film also feels like a powerful statement against Bollywood which is usually intent on giving priority to the experience of saviours of the majority in civil rights narratives.
Moreover, one of the movie's most memorable moments, which occurs shortly after Shahid's death-- the screen fades to black as Rao's moving voiceover plays out, "Jurm karne wale our sehne wale ka koi mazhab nahi hota, marta bhi insaan hai aur maarta bhi insaan hai," makes it all the more worthy of a watch in today’s turbulent times.
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