In Custody

Om Puri, with his trademark dour dignity, plays a lover of Urdu. In spite of his love, when he was a young man he became responsible for a wife and then a child, so he had to take the post of teacher of Hindi. Urdu uses a Farsi-Arabic script, and Hindi is supposedly the official language of India and the tension between them is tough -- to go deeper into that bucket of worms is a labor I do not relish. The story of a man devoted to Urdu who teaches Hindi is your first hint of what direction this movie shall take. I won't provide a synopsis, as that has been done already, but will share impressions.

The camera shots are just as compact, beautiful, and definitive as poems. Oxcarts, courtyards, and rivers are all presented to us as individual wonders.

The poems recited in this movie are magnificent creatures which come from the mouth of a jaded and corpulent old man. Our poor poet, the author of such marvels, is so fat he can hardly move. The part where the group of *admiring* vultures push the massive man on a garlanded swing as part of their drunk revels is just unbearable to watch. This is the creator of beauty: he later collapses and vomits in his wife's quarters. She is wife number two, very prettily sculpted of the most bitter wormwood. Yet she achieves household status because she has borne a son.

When you see Wife No.2 sing a ghazal, you will understand how easy it would be to fall in love with the angel-faced harpy, even as she twists the knife deeper.

Wife No.1 is a materialistic matron who has a very cold eye for reality. Neither wife is a very sympathetic companion.

And the glorious recital of poems by the great poet takes place in a hot, reeking brothel. One realizes that this recital is indeed the poet's swansong.

One would think the scenario no more than pathetic: yet it is truly dignified by the beauty of the poems. The movie ends with a gutted palace, due to be completely demolished. All physical things pass. But poems, the work of man, transcend man's own fate. It is a comfort amidst the melancholy.

I had seen this movie when it first came out and truly fell in love with its tale, dedication and Urdu playwriting.

For as long as I can remember, I have followed Shashi Kapoor's family's career and was surprised to see him in a role such as this one. It is not the typical role for Kapoor's family.

Omm Puri is a fantastic actor and often plays an Urdu speaking role. He was in "The Ghost & The Darkness," and many other great movies such as "City of Joy" with Patrick Swayze. Perhaps he has a fondness for the language and the contribution of Urdu in India.

Shabana Azmi is a family friend of my father's, and for her to be part of this movie made it so much more enjoyable to watch.

You have to realize that Urdu poets (or Shairs) are in a class of themselves. Urdu is derived from Farsi and Arabic. As most know both the Persians and Arabs were great poets. However, the uniqueness of Urdu and its trance/hypnosis type effect on the soul of a person is unlike any of the afore-mentioned languages.

I would like to point out that this movie looks at the last remaining days of a great poet. Ironically, there is, nor was, a poet that is portrayed by Shashi Kapoor. The poems are from other Shairs. Similar to Jagjit Singh's style whereas, he does not write the poetry, but rather sings and choreographs the music.

If you would like to experience a movie about a true Urdu Shair, you have to see "Mirza Ghalib" with Naseer-Udeen Shah. Ghalib is one of the greatest poets the world has seen. To understand Ghalib it to truly understand the human soul.

Shah is also in "Monsoon Wedding" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" with Sean Connery. He is a fantastic Actor.

To sum it up, I liked this movie, loved the music, the tale and I think that it was superbly done. Sorry for the folk who do not speak Urdu, but like everyone learns a second language (as I learned Spanish), there is nothing stopping you from experiencing Urdu and its greatness.

Unparallel, is by far an understatement. Cheers!