Azaad review: An ode to the brave and righteous writers

As a writer, one is left speechless, lost for words, after sitting through the 30 minutes of Azaad. It speaks volumes for Rahul Chittela's brilliant short film, but if you are a righteous, idealistic writer, you are left wondering, "What is the price you pay for honesty? Is the pen truly mightier than the sword?"

As an entertainment writer, I don’t face this predicament so much, but your mind flashes across to the Gauri Lankeshs, the Akshay Singhs (who helped to expose Madhya Pradesh's infamous Vyapam scam), the Daphne Caruana Galizias (the Maltese journalist who helped to bring the Panama Papers to light), journalists who paid with their lives for pursuing their professional duties and ideals with vigour.

The tragic incidents were deemed attacks on freedom of expression. But in the clamour for justice, mostly through noisy television debates, one often loses sight of the families of those murdered. There is general sympathy for their loss, but does anyone really know what their life was like before tragedy struck?

The unheralded Rahul Chittela's short film, aptly titled Azaad, or Free, is an ode to such brave journalists/writers. Chittela’s protagonist Vinod Durge (Atul Kulkarni) is a righteous man who writes a newspaper column under the pen name Azaad. He is greatly inspired by the late, fearless Indo-Pakistani writer Sa'adat Hasan Manto, who, too, had his bitter critics.

While his readers admire him, Azaad’s honesty and righteousness irk his wife Zainaab (Sakshi Tanwar) who believes he should stop writing without a fee. His son Sameer (Siddharth Menon) barely speaks to his father, and has given up all hope of the righteous Durge even contemplating applying for a loan for his education.

Durge and his columns pique the interest of a young documentary filmmaker. The documentary shoot is interrupted when Azaad gets a call from his wife.

From freedom of expression to religious and caste biases to personal relationships, Chittela touches upon all these in his gripping film, which is enhanced by superlative performances from the central characters. Though righteous, Azaad is not overbearing. Atul Kulkarni displays rare restraint, a far cry from his over-the-top characters in films like The Ghazi Attack (2016) and Page 3 (2005). Azaad’s calm demeanour, his tonality while reciting a famous Manto quote, and his Urdu poem, are splendid.

The nature of the film (short) and her character don’t give Sakshi Tanwar much space, but even within those boundaries, she plays her part to the T.

But it is Siddharth Menon who is a revelation and outshines his seniors with a virtuoso performance. Though he cuts a frustrated figure throughout the film, he succeeds in bringing out the character's emotional depth. The young man shows great promise and is a talent that Hindi cinema also needs to keep an eye out for.

The fine story and brilliant performances are backed by a gripping background score (Sameer Uddin), neat production design (Prashant Bidkar), and breathtaking cinematography (Eeshit Narain). Chittela and Narain leave you stunned with the cinematography in the scene where an emotionally charged Sameer (Menon) is driving, with Narain capturing the distorted visuals from the cracked windshield, which also reflect the rage, the mood and the frustration of the young man. You can’t help but fear that a tragedy is about to strike. 

The film brings out its core issues, but Chittela gives no face to his enemy. The enemy is not any single face, but a mindset — the fascist mindset.

The lone criticism is that Azaad leaves you longing for more. You wonder if the director could have stretched the screenplay a little more. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take anything away from the film.

Whether you are a writer or not, Azaad will inspire you, instil a fear in you. It will make you ask: should I follow the path of righteousness or play it safe with words and deeds? As a writer you won’t be crucified if you experience the writer’s block after watching this short.