Zainab(Suha Gezen) is betrothed to Salim(Hiten Tejwani), but Raghu’s(Anirudh Dave) feelings for her become a problem. Gezen is completely over the top, coming off as a soppy ’60s heroine: her saccharine-laden track drowning an excellent turn by Ashutosh Rana, who plays Raghu’s father, and a pacifist whose chief function is to show up the dangerous opportunism of both Hindu(Jimmy Shergill) and Muslim(Narendra Jha) leaders.
Which is a pity because this is the time to be speaking up against political satraps who create rifts between already divided communities. A couple of documentaries on the Muzaffarnagar riots(En Dino Muzaffarnagar and Muzaffarnagar Baaki Hai) do this with a great deal more competence, but it is unlikely that they will find a theatrical release. In all the noise, ‘Shorgul’s’ line – ‘Suresh meri ya Salim ise koi farak nahin padta’ – becomes more a populist stab rather than a powerful weapon.