Garm Hava was the antithesis of Gadar 2, where one’s nationality didn’t make them the villain

Garm Hava is set in the post-independence India where a Muslim family is struggling to find acceptance in a land they always called their own.

Written by Sampada Sharma

New Delhi | August 12, 2023 07:54 AM IST

5 min read

balraj sahni garm hava opposite of gadar 2

MS Sathyu's Garm Hava won two National Awards and was India's contender at the Academy Awards.

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This weekend, the Hindi film audience was treated to Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2, which, if reviews are to be believed, is an over-the-top version of its predecessor (which was excessively loud anyway). When walking into a film like Gadar, or Gadar 2 for that matter, one knows exactly what the filmmakers are going for. The hyper jingoistic tone of such movies are extremely pro-majoritarian that classify their heroes and villains on the basis of their religion and nationality. There is no place for nuance and the audience does not get to witness any unique perspective here. What you see on the poster, is what you get in the movie. One can also see why a film with a contrarian view might not get to see the light of the day today. But, back in the 1970s, Hindi cinema saw one such story which saw some opposition during its making but was eventually honoured by the government. This film was 1973’s Garm Hava, directed by MS Sathyu and based on a story by Ismat Chughtai.

Garm Hava begins soon after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Set in Agra, the story follows a Muslim family where the family’s oldest man wants to move to Pakistan since most of his peers have left the country. His younger brother, played by Balraj Sahni, is of the belief that India is their country and after the initial wave of violence, things will get better for them. But the world he is now living in won’t let him be a part of this society. The old havelis of people who moved to Pakistan are now being taken over the government. Muslim businessmen can’t borrow money anymore because moneylenders believe they might leave the country at any moment. Even those who have been living and trading here for generations find it difficult to conduct business because there is a severe lack of trust. The hatred between the communities is palpable here and one can’t help but think that a film like this, which sympathises with the minority, would never release in the India of 2023.

A still from MS Sathyu’s Garm Hava.

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Balraj Sahni’s Salim is an honest man who is thrown out of his generational haveli after the government takes charge of his property. His struggle to find a decent house for his family doesn’t even look like it’s a thing from the ancient times because even today, many find it hard to rent houses in societies where they are the minority. After Salim’s older brother and his family leave for Pakistan, his son and his family also leave the country as they are treated as outsiders in the land they called their own. Salim’s son Sikandar, played by Farooq Sheikh, is struggling to find employment in the newly independent nation but that’s another uphill battle. Some potential employers ask him to move to Pakistan but he can see that his lack of employment is not because of any religious bias, but a result of the corruption within the system.

As the film moves on, you can sense the changing environment that is getting increasingly hostile but the film still doesn’t classify its good guys and bad guys on the basis of religion. A Hindu businessman, played by AK Hangal, who ends up buying Salim’s haveli allows his family to move back in as his ageing mother wants to die in her own house but there are Hindus in this society who won’t engage in business deals with him. A Muslim politician traps Salim in a union matter that affects his business drastically but there are also Muslims who are just as kind as Salim. One’s intentions aren’t determined by their religion and while this should be a basic trait in a civilised society, our movies don’t tend to show us that life anymore.

Garm Hava is set in the post independent India where Muslims were still migrating to Pakistan.

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At the time of its release, Garm Hava was stuck with the censor board for months due to the fear of communal violence. But after its limited release, and eventual nationwide release, the film received a lot of appreciation. It even won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration and National Film Award for Best Story. It was also nominated in competition section at the Cannes Film festival and was India’s contender at the Academy Awards.

It is near impossible to imagine that a film like this would release in India today and that is perhaps why the audience has forgotten that decades before Gadar 2, we lived in a country where art wasn’t dictated by the powers that be.