A still from ‘Inn Galiyon Mein’.
| Photo Credit: Zee Music Company/YouTube

Sometimes, the timing of a film’s release makes it special. A few years back, Inn Galiyon Main would have been dubbed dated for repeating the obvious. Today, its theme is here and now. Mostly, social values inform a film, but sometimes, a social churn leads to a creative outpouring. 

At a time when festivals and cricket matches have become a stick to browbeat a community, Inn Galiyon Main celebrates Holi and Eid at a space where Hanuman and Rahman Gali coalesce in Lucknow. An ode to the syncretic culture that has almost been reduced to a slur in hate-filled narratives on social media, the film exposes the divisive politics fuelled by cheap data with a poetic parable.

Set in the election season, Tiwari (Sushant Singh) is sowing seeds of the communal divide in his constituency for a rich political harvest, but Mirza (Javed Jaaferi), who sells a concoction of tea and poetry, proves to be a spanner is his plan. Nursing wounds of the past, he says the country can do without the culture of revenge.

Oblivious to the political ferment, Hariya (Vivaan Shah) is keen on creating space for himself in the fourth chamber of Shabnam’s (Avantika) heart through Instagram reels. If Hariya is romantic, Shabnam is pragmatic about the inter-faith alliance. It leads to an interesting commentary on the times when hate spreads faster than love. Tiwari knows how to ignite latent bombs from a distance. He instigates the sentiments of those who can’t see beyond qaum (community) in the age of dotcom against those who rile up against the neighbour because of a rumour on social media.

While Javed owns the part of a Kabir-inspired tea seller, Vivaan surrenders to the surroundings in perhaps his best performance. Avantika takes time to blend in but doesn’t disappoint. Remembered for Anarkali of Arrah, director Avinash Das has a flair for imbuing progressive and liberal thought in the desi milieu. He doesn’t hold back his punches in exposing how political chameleons operate. Employing a traditional device of literature to speak truth to power, he posits the character of a madman (Ishtiak Khan). His relentless appeal for discovering the spirit of India is the sanest advice.

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Censorship and circumstances seem to have blunted the sharpness of the climactic turn, but Das slips in food politics and the value of the vote and veil to make a potent comment. A film that demands to be heard rather than seen, in terms of form, it seems to be conceived like a dialogue-heavy piece for theatre. There are passages where it starts reading like an editorial on Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb interspersed with couplets of progressive poets. But, at 100 minutes, Inn Galiyon Mein doesn’t get stuck in the didactics.

Inn Galiyon Mein is currently running in theatres.