Anxiety Fim Festival – Garm Hava (Hot Winds)

Screening of M.S. Sathyus Garm Hava (Hot Winds, 1973) and Q&A session.

Sunday, 29th June 2014

Garm Hava (Hot Winds) is one of the most poignant Indian films ever made on India’s partition. The film portrays the impact of partition on ordinary Muslims who chose to remain in India after the politically motivated division.

Based on an unpublished story by famous Urdu writer Ismat Chugtai, the story was developed and scripted by Urdu poet and film lyricist Kaifi Azmi. Garm Hava unravels the conflict of Salim Mirza played remarkably by famous Indian actor, Balraj Sahni. His performance as an angst-ridden Muslim man who refuses to go to Pakistan was billed as the finest performance of his career and, dying soon after filming, was also his last. Due to its politically sensitive theme, the film was held up at the censors for eight months and remains a seminal work on this anxious and difficult period.

The film was co-curated with the South Asian Cinema Foundation and with an introduction and a Q&A session with the foundation’s director Lalit Mohan Joshi.