Is violence cyclical?

I just saw Amu over the weekend and am still reeling from the film. Of course while it may mean that it is a fantastic film (which it is), am still grappling with how much violence we allow in our lives.

A film which starts off slowly but gathers pace, your attention and the grip soon enough. A basic story about one girl, trying to find her identity. No grandiose agendas for her, no seeing India through 'her foreign lense'. She is just trying to find out more about her birth parents.

With facts she gleans from stories swapped at dhabhas and tales exchanged with people living in 'jhuggis', she still comes up short for facts, especially when her mother does not cooperate with her. "Who am I?" would take new meaning when one is not even sure that facts told are actually true. A scary, half baked or rather half concted picture emerges to slowly disintegrate.

The story of Amu's life is poignantly depicted. In the innocence typical to a child, she follows her mother and lives... her fault..? Hardly. The mystery solved (though justice still as elusive as shadows that keep haunting her), the film ends on a sombre note.

Gujrat 2002. It is a very telling end. Where the quest of one Amu ends, thousands and thousands Amus relive the similar nightmare, abandoning hope and faith for their lives and vice versa. The film ending perhaps makes people think why communal violence is cyclical and who lose the most. But sadly not even 150 people were present in the theatre...

What perhaps drove home the point was the film's creative consultant (sitting amongst us), requesting that we 'go out there' and spread the word... sicne it was difficult and expensive to promote a film like this...

Go see Amu - you may learn an important lesson of tolerance and the dire need our society has for it.