Mulk trailer: A passionate Taapsee, rivetting Rishi drive this battle for the idea of India

"How do you prove love, other than by loving?" asks Rishi Kapoor's Murad Ali Mohammed in the trailer of Anubhav Sinha's Mulk. The question raises the fundamental argument of Sinha's film about the family of a terrorist being hounded by their own people in their own country.

The film, starring Rishi Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Rajat Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa, Prateik Babbar and Ashutosh Rana, is set to be released on 3 August.

The trailer opens with the key moment of Babbar's terrorist being surrounded by police in his hideout in what seems to be Banares, Uttar Pradesh. In an attempt to lure him out, Rajat's policeman calls his family, headed by Rishi's Murad Ali Mohammed. But the result is inevitable.

It is what follows that defines Sinha's film. As Murad Ali and his family members are hounded by the politics, thirst for headlines, and a very rabid mob of people, the trailer questions the true meaning of patriotism.

Engrossing and deeply affecting, the trailer feels a lot more current owing to the recent lynchings and mob violence rampantly taking place in India. In a time when violence can be tipped with just a WhatsApp message, Sinha's film seeks to trace the idea of an India rooted in its culture, rather than religion.

The film is set in Banares and the trailer offers insight into the intertwined nature of the religion and culture in the city. As we see Pannu's muslim lawyer, Aarti Mohammed, pray at a temple, there is a contrasting scene of Rishi's patriarch standing strong for his own faith, even when the world is against him.

Watch the film's trailer below: