Qissa - The Tale Of a Lonely Ghost, leaves you with many such perplexing thoughts that haunt you for longer than you'd think.
It's a story based on a partition-displaced family that struggles to rebuild its lost home amidst terrible times. Umber Singh, a father of three daughters, looks at having a son as the only option to bring comfort to his crippled household. This leads to the fourth daughter being raised as a son. Tillotama Shome as Kanwar the 'son' does an extraordinary job, and leaves you mind-numbed at quite a few instances. Tisca Chopra as 'Meher', the ever enduring wife and mother is timeless and beyond comparison in her act, there is an emotion in every breath she takes which make words seem needless. Also, you look at Rasika Dugal and wish to see her more often, as she lights up the screen with her marvel.
The surrealism of this cinema is unwillingly pragmatic. Director Anup Singh has pointed at many such social atrocities within a single fable, which leaves us with this masterpiece. Every frame connects to the other with such beauty that it isn't narration of a story, but a musical painting. What weaves all of it together beautifully is the enchanting cinematography and the rich background score.
Qissa would mean different things to different people. It deals with partition not just of a being from its homeland but a body from its soul, a mind from its senses and much more. The cast are the perfect words for this beautiful lyrical.
Qissa is atrociously imaginative at the surface yet very real in its true depth. Watch it because very rarely do you find cinema this captivating!
