After getting my haircut, I cruised the DVD section of the Newton Library. From the recently-rented-and-to-be-reshelved cart I found a Hindi film: आँच (Aanch). I’ve had a hankering for Indian films recently, so I checked it out despite the fact that I’d never heard of the movie or any of its stars (Nana Patekar and Paresh Rawal).

Now I don’t usually read the back of the DVD cozy, so it wasn’t until Lisa started reading it aloud that we discovered this gem of prose, faithfully transcribed here:

Set amongst the Gangatic plains of crime infested northern India & based on a true - life incident “Aanch” is story of blooming love between a newly married couple. A story, which is a class apart, a grandiose tale, which has neither been told before on the Indian Silver Screen and would probably never, be told again.

This love-tale criss - crosses across the rural Uttar Pradesh, where egos are larger than life, corruption & nepotism is rampant, where real guns and hand grenades are toys for the infants to play with and where common-man is a pawn in the hands of few politicians riding the elephants of their caste. Amongst this socio-political mayhem, nurtured by languish and strength of characlers, rises the undying love of the couple and is born an original love story “Aanch”.

Aanch is the story of today, modern yet traditionl disgusting yet inspiring. It is a story, which shall make you sit-up in your seats, layer by layer it unfolds the high drama and compels you to think about the many illustrated facts.

In “Aanch” the city plays as big a role as the village. The compelling circumstances push and force the hero and the heroine to come to the town. They are happy to escape the brutal world of rural India and to find their careers. But their happiness is short lived and once again the circumstances compel them to return to the village.

Belonging to the two feuding families the lovers’ virgin ‘love’ instead of cooling the wild passion of hatred gives wind to the burning amber. It flames the fires, scores of people die, hundreds of cattle perish and thousands are left homeless. Hamlet after hamlet, village after village is torched and in the ravines and the great indo-gagatic plains of Uttar Pradesh the modern day Mahabharata is fought.

Do the lovers’ - the husband and the wife, find their nest? Does their dreams come true? Does their hopes find the wide white sky? The Answer to all these questions is “Aanch.”

Aanch is not merely a film but a ‘film with difference’. Based on true - life incident this film illustrates burning desires and passions of two kinds one which is constructive and the other destructive. Yet one more time “Aanch” proves that love wins.

We can hardly wait to watch.