one of my favorite movies ever.
…
Nandini Ramnath: Garm Hava is a fine rediscovery of the storytelling techniques that were fashionable in the seventies ? the use of actual locations, dramatic close-ups, naturalistic performances and nuanced characterisation. Written by Sathyu and Shama Zaidi with dialogue by Kaifi Azmi, based on a short story by Ismat Chugtai and shot by Ishan Arya, the movie captures the gradual disintegration of a Muslim family of shoe makers that has chosen to stay back in Agra rather than move to Pakistan after the Partition. Salim Mirza’s brother leaves first, followed later by his son. His daughter pays a terrible price for losing two lovers to Pakistan. Many Partition films focus on the plight of Punjabi Hindus, but Garm Hava focuses boldly on issues facing the Muslim community ? its relationship with the majority faith and the state, the loyalty tests its members frequently undergo, and the constant threat of political and economic disenfranchisement. The glorious past of Muslims in India is evoked in beautifully filmed visits to the Salim Chisti dargah, which also inspires the only song in the movie, a qawwali, and the Taj Mahal monument, against which love is consummated in one of the finest romantic moments in Indian cinema. More here.