Movie review: ‘Khuda Haafiz’
‘God Be With You’
This short film is called ‘Khuda Haafiz’ and it means ‘goodbye’, or ‘God be with you’. Interestingly, etymologically, the English word, ‘goodbye’ is a contraction of the old English ‘God be with you.’
Both the name and the 23 minutes 53-second short film are particularly poignant because the actors who essay the role of the two protagonists, Irfan Khan and Om Puri, have passed on.
Between 1993 and 1994, Doordarshan ( an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting-Wikipedia) aired a series of short films, written by talented writers and directed by Gulzar. They were short, pithy works of art, and sheer expressions of genius.
‘Khuda Hafiz’ opens with the shot of a man running, as if pursued, in the darkness of the night. The character played by Irfan Khan, is trying to find a place to hide. The night is lit up by sundry fires, and at times, by the light shining from a building out of which policemen march in and out. The footsteps of the running man sound loud in the stillness of the night, punctuated, from time to time, with the wail of sirens, and his own ragged, panting breath. He stops and removes his footwear, and crouches behind something which looks like a low wall, when he hears the sounds of a returning posse of policemen.
He hides there, trying to still his breathing, when from behind the wall, somebody says, “So you are out after curfew, are you?” We can almost see Irfan Khan’s heart skip a beat. And then there is a sound of a gunshot, and he ducks back into cover. After the sounds die down, he cautiously lifts his head and looks at his interlocutor, Om Puri. Picking up courage, he asks, “What are you doing, after curfew?” The man begins to bluster, but then calms down: and they talk, as only two perfect strangers, in the thick of danger can.
The low wall, was actually a huge circular dustbin adjacent to the police station. It was inside that, that Om Puri’s character had taken refuge.
Two ordinary people, going about their normal business of earning a living, caught in the crossfire, when a curfew was suddenly and un expectedly announced. All the people who were killed after curfew hours, were those trying to get back home to their families.
So the two men talk, but they were both wary of revealing which religion they belonged to.
Om Puri decides to make a dash for home, with a little bundle he had with him, containing toys for his grandchildren. Before he leaves, he bids Irfan ‘Khuda Haafiz.’
Every nuance of human relationships, all the Navarasas, the nine emotions that classical dance and drama celebrate, everything that humanity holds dear, and everything a heartless, faceless regime can do to suppress and vitiate that humanity have been depicted with startling clarity. The simple elegance of the story written by Samaresh Basu, along with Gulzar’s consummate direction, and the sheer genius and histrionic ability of Irfan Khan and Om Puri make this a piece of dramatic brilliance both humbling and exalting.
Watch the short film for the elegance and brevity of the plot: for the underplayed, sensitive direction of one of our finest lyricists, Gulzar: for the histrionic brilliance of the two thespians, Om Puri and Irfan Khan.
When we are tempted to term everything a decade or two older, as ‘old fashioned’, we must watch this. This is not ‘old’
This, is eternal.
Khuda Haafiz.
God be with you.