Mumbai blasts film nears release

A film about the 1993 Mumbai bombings will be screened in India this week almost two years after it hit legal trouble when it was released in 2005. Black Friday is based on a book of the same name and depicts events around the time of the devastating blasts.

Its release was delayed because of concerns that it could prejudice trials of those accused over the bombings. More than 250 people were killed and 700 wounded in the blasts in India's financial capital on 12 March 1993.

The attacks were allegedly ordered by the Muslim-dominated underworld in revenge for Hindu-Muslim riots. The 13-year trial finally ended last September with the judge finding 100 of the 123 defendants guilty, while those remaining were acquitted.

Sentences have still to be passed. 'Necessary' Director Anurag Kashyap told BBC News that even though the movie was being released after a two-year delay, it is still relevant today as it explores beyond what happened.

"In the end, the film talks about Gandhi's message that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind so it tends to inculcate that message in the audience," he said. He said making the film had been very important for him. "It was necessary to talk about it, it was necessary to debate the topic, it was necessary to have a discussion on the topic.

"If you try to make a film like this in a country like India, you are bound to face problems. I didn't know how much - but once I had decided that I had to make this film then I had to make it with honesty and cross whatever hurdle came my way."

The film uses real names and places to describe the events that took place around the blasts. It shows, in great detail, the conspiracy behind the blasts and the investigation that followed soon after.

Mr. Kashyap said three fictional scenes had been added in the film, but everything else was real. He said he had even met the accused and the policemen investigating the case at the time to get a sense of the kind of people they were.

"I interviewed almost all the officers who were in charge of the case and I attended the special anti-terrorism court where I spoke to the accused. They didn't know who I was and I didn't tell them, I just interacted with them to get a feeling of the kind of people they were." 'Dutt - peripheral' He also said this helped him cast actors in the film who resembled the real players.

The movie, however, makes no mention of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who was also one of the accused in the case. He was acquitted of involvement in terrorist activities but convicted of possessing an illegal weapon.

Mr. Kashyap said this was done on purpose because any mention of the actor in the film would have distracted from the main issues. He said: "When he was named one of the accused in the case, Sanjay Dutt became the be-all-and-end-all of the case.

No one was focusing on the real issue. "Sanjay Dutt was a peripheral issue to the main blasts and if you see the film, you wouldn't know where to fit him." Mr. Kashyap also said he had not tried to pass any judgement on anyone in the film. "People could judge because if you see a character behave in a particular manner, then you are bound to think about it.

"That is a different story that the verdict is finally along the lines of what we had shown in the film, our research was that thorough. But we respect the court orders and the delay that happened did happen." The film has already done the rounds of several film festivals and received positive reviews. It will be released in India on 9 February.

BBC

1993 Mumbai blasts

12 blasts

257 dead

713 injured

123 arrested and tried

686 witnesses testify

35,000 pages of evidence submitted

13 years to reach verdicts