Mulk: Prejudice and Perception
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Mulk: Prejudice and Perception
It is an interesting look at how insidious propaganda against a certain religion can give rise to a hysteria that sweeps aside all rationality and fractures a community with suspicion and discord. |
Mulk is an excellent, under-promoted film on how anti-Muslim propaganda can affect the lives of ordinary Indian citizens. An extended Muslim family, with Murad Ali Mohammed, played by Rishi Kapoor, as its head, live in Banaras, and are on easy, friendly terms with everyone in their locality, including Hindus. The even tenor of their life is thrown into turmoil when Murad Ali Mohammed’s nephew, Shahid Mohammed, gets involved in a bomb blast plot and the entire family is collectively blamed for his actions. Unable to find and arrest the absconding Shahid Mohammed, the police arrest his father, Bilaal Mohammed, Murad Ali Mohammed’s younger brother, as a terrorist suspect and haul him off to the police station. Former friends turn their backs on the family and they find themselves subjected to all manners of harassment and are asked to prove their loyalty to the country. Indignant at the treatment they receive, his daughter-in-law Aarti, played by Taapsee Pannu, heads to court to obtain justice for their wronged family.
