The story at the center of ‘Chikkar’ is the mob lynching of a young dancer. The heinous act is never shown in its gruesome detail. However, its horrific description by a key witness is chilling enough in a scene masterfully helmed by director Zaheer Uddin. Usman Mukhtar as Special Duty Officer Sarmad Zaman interrogates a terrified and remorseful witness played by the excellent Usama Javaid Haider. The description of the crime builds to a crescendo as Officer Sarmad slams his desk and screams in anger.
‘Chikkar’ (meaning filth or mud) points out several problems within Pakistan’s society including class, ethnicity, caste, superiority and inferiority complexes, misogyny, etc. However, its main focus is how we’re all ready to become animals at the drop of a hat.
Usman Mukhtar’s character Sarmad Zaman is charged with investigating the mob lynching and bringing the criminals to justice. An upright officer, he struggles to find the real culprits for a crime in which we all share the blame. Along the way he meets “Sawan”, a struggling reporter and journalist played by the always dependable Saleem Meiraj, a vile cleric, and several corrupt politicians.
The meat of the story is in the investigative procedure itself. ‘Chikkar’ serves as a detective story more than a social drama, though it manages to do justice to both genres. The interrogations, bureaucratic procedure, analysis, and technical research by an IT team, are all very detailed. Needless to say, this is a well written screenplay.
‘Chikkar’ triumphs when it comes to its writing. The dialogue and the narrative moves through the various topics the film addresses. A subplot involving Sarmad and his wife Ayla (an aspiring cricketer), played by Ushna Shah, focuses on the divide between the working and the upper class in Pakistan. However, it never comes at the expense of the main narrative.
A performance that stands out is “SHO Jamal Bhatti” played by Nouman Waheed Qureshi, an opportunistic, but honest cop who always tries to impress others by speaking in English. A lot of humour in the film comes from his character, which breaks the somber tone of the film and gives relief.
Faryal Mehmood as the lynched dancer Neelam Shahzadi is barely in the film for more than 10 minutes. However, her spirit is omnipresent. When she is on screen, the fire and verve in her performance always comes through. I’m looking forward to her work in ‘Wakhri’. Saleem Meiraj is great as always, but that’s just like saying the sky is blue.
However, Usman Mukhtar turns in the film’s best performance. His commanding screen presence is a sign of his great potential. After Humayun Saeed, Fawad Khan, Hamza Ali Abbasi and Fahad Mustafa, Usman Mukhtar may well be the next leading man of Pakistani Cinema. I’m looking forward to ‘Umro Ayyar’ even more now.
The shortcomings that the film has are mostly technical. A few edits here and there could’ve been done better. The green screen in some scenes is very noticeable and takes away from the gritty nature of the film. The sound mixing in certain scenes also takes away from the experience as the dialogue is barely audible.
Also, some audiences may be turned off by the fact that a lot of the dialogue, especially in the early scenes, is almost entirely in English. However, the biggest flaw in my opinion, is that ‘Chikkar’ drags in certain places. I found myself checking my watch and wishing that the film gets to the point more than once.
A tighter edit, and a shorter runtime would’ve benefitted the film tremendously. One scene, in which Usman Mukhtar’s Officer Sarmad inspects the police station, drags on for far too long. A few quick edits would’ve solved that problem.
‘Chikkar’ remembers the slain Pakistanis who lost their lives to senseless mob lynchings over the past decade. As their faces flashed on the screen, I remembered the first time I saw their faces either in videos or photographs. ‘Chikkar’ tries to delve as deeply as possible into what happened to them and why through its central narrative, even if it doesn’t speak the whole truth. However, it’s a bold attempt at holding up a mirror.
‘Chikkar’ is playing in theaters now.
