''Amu'' is a 2005

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Shonali Bose Shonali Bose (born 3 June 1965) is an Indian film director, writer and film producer. Having made her feature film debut in 2005, she has since won such accolades as a National Film Award, a Nashville Film Festival, Bridgestone Narrative Award, ...

, about the

1984 anti-Sikh riots The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...

. The film is based on Bose's own novel by the same name. It stars

Konkona Sen Sharma Konkona Sen Sharma (born 3 December 1979) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works primarily in Hindi and Bengali films. She has received two National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. The daughter of filmmakeractress Aparna Sen, Sen ...

Brinda Karat Brinda Karat (born 17 October 1947) is an Indian politician, elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) member on 11 April 2005 for West Bengal. In 2005, she became the first woman member of the CPI(M) Politburo. She ...

, and Ankur Khanna. The film premiered at the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

and the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in 2005.

Plot

''Amu'' is the journey of Kajori (Kaju) Roy (

), a 21-year-old Indian American woman who has lived in the US since the age of 3. After graduating from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Kaju goes to India to visit her relatives. There she meets Kabir ( Ankur Khanna), a college student from an upper-class family who is disdainful of Kaju's wide-eyed wonder at discovering the "real India". Undeterred, Kaju visits the slums, crowded markets and roadside cafes of Delhi. In one slum she is struck by an odd feeling of

déjà vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is a French loanword for the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford Univer ...

. Soon after she starts having nightmares. Kabir gets drawn into the mystery of why this is happening, particularly when Kaju announces that she is adopted. Meanwhile, Kaju's adoptive mother – Keya Roy, a single parent and civil rights activist in LA, arrives unannounced in Delhi. She is shocked to discover that Kaju has been visiting the slums. Although Kaju mistakes her mother's response to a typical Indian over-protectiveness, Keya's fears are more deeply rooted. Slowly Kaju starts piecing together what happened to her birth parents and mother and daughter clash as Kaju discovers she has been lied to her whole life. As Kaju and Kabir undertake this quest they both discover their families' involvement with the man-made tragedy of immense proportions which took place seventeen years ago in the capital city of India: the massacre of thousands of Sikhs in 1984; after the

assassination of Indira Gandhi Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated at 9:30 a.m. on 31 October 1984 at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. She was killed by her bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, an I ...

, the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

. Kabir learns that his father was instrumental in organizing the riots, as well as guilty of failing to stop Kaju's father from being killed. Kabir confronts his father who tries to justify his actions. Keya finally tells Kaju the truth; her birth name is Amu Singh and her Sikh father and younger brother were killed in the riots while her mother hanged herself months later after leaving the refugee camp. The movie ends with Kaju and Kabir spending a moment in the neighbourhood where Kaju was born before walking away together, while a television in the backgrounds begins broadcasting the start of the

2002 Gujarat riots The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hin ...

Cast

as Kajori “Amu” Roy *

as Keya *Ankur Khanna as Kabir * Kuljeet Singh as Gurbachan Singh *Bharat Kapoor as Arun Sehgal *

Avijit Dutt Avijit Dutt is an Indian filmmaker, actor, theater director and communications consultant. Living and working out of New Delhi. He has done his masters from Calcutta University in English Literature and began his career at an English Faculty in ...

as Neel *

Lushin Dubey Lushin Dubey is an Indian stage actor and director. She directed, acted and scripted many drama productions for over 20 years. Lushin is also known for her solo plays ''Untitled'' and Pinki Virani's ''Bitter Chocolate'' with theatre director A ...

as Meera Sehgal *

Subhashini Ali Subhasini Ali (born 29 December 1947) is an Indian politician and a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). She is the President of the All India Democratic Women's Association and former Member of Parliament from Kanpur. Early life ...

as L

Production

The film's production was marred by obstacles like a reputed production house backing out in the last moment, and threats from local goons during the shooting of the riots scenes.Aamir Khan to unveil Amu DVD - A Film based on '84 Riots

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

, 6 August 2008.

Reception

A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' review, put the film as "the ambitious debut feature by Shonali Bose, wears its political heart on its sleeve and is unafraid to tackle big topics: identity, history, truth, injustice." Another review starts with words, "Needed to be made. Needed to be made. Needed to be made." The ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' review, while commending the film for "effectively grounding its political concerns in Kaju’s credible struggle for identity," also points out that "it had its share of wobbly moments, and the resolution feels a bit like a cop-out."Movie review - Amu
''

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, May 24–30, 2007''. Further a ''

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'' review states, "If Fahrenheit 9/11 can, so can Amu." According to the ''

Indiatimes Times Internet is an Indian internet technology company, based in Gurgaon, which owns, operates and invests in various internet-led products, services and technology. It is the digital arm of the Times Group, the largest media conglomerate in I ...

'', "What sets Amu apart is its historical astuteness and its creator’s unblinking regard for the past, no matter how brutal."

Censorship

The film faced problems with the

censor board The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

in India, which cleared it only with 6 politically motivated cuts, and with an " A" certificate. Since — according to Indian law — this made the movie ineligible to be telecast on Indian television, the producers later reapplied for a UA censor certificate. This was when a 10-minute cut was suggested by censors, including removal of all verbal references to the

riots A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...

. Subsequently, the producers decided to forgo the lower certification, and released the movie directly to DVD.

Awards

* 2005:

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate ...

: Best Feature Film in English * 2005: FIPRESCI Critics Award. * 2005:

Gollapudi Srinivas Award Gollapudi Srinivas Award is a national-level private award given to a first-time director in Indian Cinema every year. It is given out in the memory of Gollapudi Srinivas (3 March 1966 – 12 August 1992). He was the youngest son of veteran Telugu f ...

– Best Debut Director (India)Shonali Bose has bagged the Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for her acclaimed debut feature "Amu".
''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

, 25 March 2005''. * 2005: Teenage Choice Award, Torino, Italy (Cine donne Film Festival). * 2005: Jury Award, Torino, Italy (Cine donne Film Festival).Awards
''Official site.'' * 2006:

Star Screen Award The Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony held in India honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced by t ...

– Best English Film (India)

References

External links

Official Site
* *
Brave Heart: An Interview with Shonali Bose
Nirali Magazine, May 2007
Amu: A film by Shonali Bose
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amu (Film) 2005 films 2000s political drama films Indian-American films Indian political drama films English-language Indian films Films based on Indian novels Best English Feature Film National Film Award winners Films based on 1984 anti-Sikh riots Fictional portrayals of the Delhi Police Asian-American drama films 2005 drama films 2000s American films 2005 directorial debut films