In Custody (film)

Infobox Film | name = In Custody / Muhafiz


caption =
director = Ismail Merchant
producer = Wahid Chowhan
Paul Bradley (executive)
Donald Rosenfeld (executive)
writer = Anita Desai (novel)
Shahrukh Husain
starring = Shashi Kapoor
Shabana Azmi
Om Puri
Sushma Seth
Amjad Khan
Mohammed Ali
Parikshat Sahni
music = Zakir Hussein
Ustad Sultan Khan
cinematography = Larry Pizer
editing = Roberto Silvi
production designer = Suresh Sawant
distributor = Sony Pictures Classics (US, 1994)
Criterion Collection (US DVD, 2005)
released = October 1993 (Tokyo Film Festival in Kyoto)
8 June 1994 (France)
runtime = 126 minutes
language = Urdu
Hindi
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
imdb_id = 0107199

"In Custody/Muhafiz" (1993) is a film by Merchant Ivory Productions. It was directed by Ismail Merchant, with a screenplay by Anita Desai and Shahrukh Husain. It is based upon Desai's 1984 Booker Prize nominated novel "In Custody".

Plot synopsis

Deven's (Om Puri) position as a professor of Hindi at a local college is only a means to an end. His first love is the Urdu language and in particular Urdu poetry. Deven's multiple (and often stymied) attempts to interview the great Urdu poet, Nur (Shashi Kapoor), acts as a metaphor for the clash between modernization and tradition.

Cast

*Shashi Kapoor .... Nur
*Shabana Azmi .... Imtiaz Begum
*Om Puri .... Deven
*Tinnu Anand .... Murad
*Parikshat Sahni .... Siddiqui
*Amjad Khan .... Musician
*Mohammed Ali .... The Chief Guest

Awards

*1993 : Tokyo Film Festival in Kyoto (Official Selection) nomination.
*1994 : President of India Gold Medal for Best Picture

Musicians and Vocalists

*Sultan Khan - "sarangi"
*Sunil Das - "sitar"
*Ulhas Bapat - "santoor"
*Ronu Majumdar - "flute"
*Fazal Qureshi - "tabla"
*Taufiq Qureshi - "percussion"
*Pyush Kanojia - "keyboard"
*Zakir Hussein - "tabla"
*Sadiq Qureshi - "duf"

vocalists
*Suresh Wadkar, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan

External links

* [http://www.merchantivory.com/custody.html merchantivory.com]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E3DF1F3EF936A25757C0A962958260&pagewanted=all Film review] - New York Times Archives
* [http://myturn2.typepad.com/blog/2005/12/review_of_in_cu.html Film review]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_n4_v24/ai_15125383/print Interview with Ismail Merchant which provides background and context for the story]