‘Burqa’ movie review: An intriguing dialogue drama on religion and oppression

A scene from ‘Burqa’ | Photo Credit: @thinkmusicofficial/YouTube

Like all socio-cultural systems, religion also has its advantages and disadvantages. As our elders preached, there is good and bad in everything, and religion – or any social construct for that matter – is no exception. This paradox forms the basis of Sarjun KM. Burqa Which is a compelling conversation drama starring Kalaiyarasan and Mirna.

Without mentioning the year, the film begins with a slide stating that it is December in Chennai and the city is under curfew due to communal riots. A physically injured Surya (Kalaiyarasan) finds refuge in an emotionally hurt Najma’s (Mirna) house. So begin differences that are both drastic and dramatic. Surya, as the name suggests, is the sun, while Najma stands for star in Urdu. One is a devout Muslim who religiously follows the tenets of his religion while the other is an atheist who finds peace in chaos. He is wanted by the police and his friends care to know if he is safe, but on the other hand, no one cares to investigate him. Surya is so free that he can participate in a riot, while Najma is confined within the walls of her home due to Iddat, a Muslim woman’s period of purity after her marriage is nullified either by divorce or by the death of her husband. She goes. This is apparently to ascertain whether the female is pregnant and to establish certainty of paternity. While Najma (a medic by profession) minimizes his injury, the rest of the film answers whether Surya carries a scar on his heart in back-and-forth conversations.

For two such characters to find common ground through dialogue from different ends spans all possible spectrums Burqa Basically. Those conversations turn into a heated debate, with the duo multi-tasking as both audience and judge. The film begins with a quote from author Angie Weiland-Crosby who says, “The wind breathes lonely, longing to see. Sometimes, the soul has days like this. Najma’s heart, barren for years, The arrival of a stranger at her door suddenly becomes the scene of a battle of her heart and mind. Molded by generations of tradition she finds hard to denounce – and animated by a breath of fresh air that the world promises – she Sticking like a bookmark between the pages of the sermons of her holy book, in which she often finds solace.

A scene from ‘Burqa’ | Photo Credit: @thinkmusicofficial/YouTube

The change in tone and intensity of fierceness in the words exchanged between them, though not exactly consistent, break the monotony of Burqa Which could easily have fallen into the ‘this meeting could have been an e-mail’ category. What’s most interesting is how the film suggests alternatives, but never offers a solution. It barely scratches the surface of commenting on the influence, or – in some cases – misinterpretation, of religion and its interpretations, but never dwells on how it subjugates women. It doesn’t even give us room to complain about murder.

When Najma brings up this ultimate weapon of how a man can understand what a woman is going through, Surya retaliates with the story of his mother, who has also been repressed and pushed into a corner , although in a different way. He retaliates by asking her whether her husband would limit himself if he were to die; Although she explains how a man cannot conceive, she learns that the idea of ​​reform has been planted in her. What Najma perceives as forward-thinking – her father (GM Kumar) “allowing” her to study for being “modern” and wearing late husband Anwar’s (Suryanarayanan) T-shirts on vacation – to Surya seems trivial.

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The way the film has been treated from a technical point of view also works in its favour. Despite almost the entire story revolving around the happenings of a day within the four walls of Najma’s house, G Balamurugan’s cinematography and Sivathmika’s music assist in keeping the claustrophobia at bay. The shots of sunlight streaming through the cracks of the old yet elegant house to shed light on Najma feel ethereal when we contemplate the names of our leads.

Apart from a few scenes featuring members of Najma’s family, this is primarily a two-person show, and both Mirna and Kalaiyarasan do a good job with their subtle yet strong performances that are layered and realistic. It is the camaraderie that the two characters end up sharing that makes them fall in love with each other, despite Najma not knowing much more than what Surya has told her about herself; Meanwhile, Surya only saw her eyes through the cut-outs of her burqa.

on the negative side, while dialogue and point Burqa While the effort to pick up is commendable, the frequent changes in tone and jumping from one topic to another don’t always feel organic. While the film establishes that Najma is a young widow who barely knows her dead husband and Surya is a young man with a troubled backstory, the narrative doesn’t really provide enough material to explain why the two are meant for each other. have fallen.

If pagelight tried to make fun of a woman trying to grieve for a dead husband she barely knew, Burqa takes a more realistic and emotional approach to the same, digging deep into the psyche of a young woman for whom he has no feelings. That’s why the final shot, related to the film’s title, feels like an achievement for both of them, even though we don’t know what happened to them after that. Speaking of which, wonder what will happen to our society when we stop caring about the choices people make about their lives? Progress, maybe.

Burka is currently streaming on AHA