It’s a story of Hushmatullah (Rawal), a Muslim mechanic who is entrusted with the job of repairing an old V8 Ford engine. He later finds that it would carry the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi to be immersed in ‘Sangam’. A bomb explosion and subsequent arrests of Mu-slims from the locality, leads the community leaders (Puri and Malhotra) to call for a workers’ strike. This puts Hushmat in a dilemma, forcing him to choose between the community and his conscience.
Rawal gives a genuine performance as a man standing up for his principles. In a powerful scene, he decides to wait outside his garage till its keys, which were forcibly taken by his friends, are returned.
Om Puri is apt as Mohammad Ali Kasuri. Pavan Malhotra is brilliant, almost unrecognizable in the role of Maulana Qureshi. The real hero of the movie is the director and scriptwriter, Amit Rai, who captures your attention through this simple plot which talks about patriotism without being overbearing and links Gandhi’s ideology with Husmat through something as simple as his work. Watch it to celebrate the spirit of the Mahatma that we have all forgotten about.
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