India, US

New Delhi, Feb 9 (UNI) They are films which show a "mirror to society" by seeking to portray the shock and horror brought about by some of the horrific events in India's recent history like the Godhra riots and the Mumbai bomb blasts.

Call it an offshoot of growing multiplexisation of Indian cinema or the overwhelming impact that New age films like 'Rang De Basanti', 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', 'Dor' and 'Gangster' have had on the Indian psyche but an increasing number of films dealing with the harsh realities of Indian society are finally making their way to the cinema halls.

Close on the heels of release of Rahul Dholakia's 'Parzania', dealing with the sensitive subject of the Godhra riots, a few weeks ago, 'Black Friday', another film that touches a raw nerve in Indian society by recounting the events in the aftermath of the 1993 Mumbai Bomb blasts, makes its way to the theatres in India and the United States today.

After almost a two-year delay in its release, caused largely by controversies surrounding it and court cases, 'Black Friday' opens today in India and the US.

Speaking at the film's premiere in the Capital on Wednesday night, its writer and director Anurag Kashyap expressed a sense of relief over the film finally seeing the light of day.

Clearly elated at the encouraging reviews and reactions that the film, which generated during its screenings at the Indian Fixxlm Festival in Los Angeles last year, where it won the grand Jury prize for Best Feature , as well as its trial shows, Anurag said,''it is encouraging to see that the film has evoked a positive response from all sections of people, specially from people in the industry.'' Asked about the cuts that had been effected in the film by the Censor Board keeping in view its sensitive nature, Anurag said,''apart from a few sound cuts, there have been no other major cuts in the film.'' Shot on the location in Mumbai, 'Black Friday' deals with the series of events in the city on March 12, 1993 when, over a period of several hours, a series of explosions tore through the city killing 300 people.

The film follows the men that orchestrated the devastation in response to violence against Muslims during communal riots as well as the police investigation into the tragic events.

Refusing to take credit for making "Black Friday', which is based on Mid Day journalist S Hussein Zaidi's book by the same, Anurag said,''I am fortunate that 'Blick Friday' chose me rather than the other way round.'' The film, which realistically captures the course of events preceding and following the Mumbai bomb blasts, reveals how, following the bloodbath of post-Babri Masjid demolition riots of December 1992 and January 1993, Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim - two of the leading figures in Mumbai underworld - undertook it amonmg themselves to avenge the suffering of Mumbai's Muslim community through a systematically coordinated scheme of terror.

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