12 March 1993

Friday. 12, March 1993 was the day that shook Bombay; shook Bombay to the core because until then Bombay never thought it was susceptible. Today marks 19 years since that day.

For those of you who were little kids like me back then, Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday based on Mid-Day journalist S.Hussain Zaidi book , is a must watch to really get an understanding of the repercussions of those serial blasts .

The film shows the chaos and after effects of that fateful day, what led to these serial bombings and who were the people behind one of first acts of terrorism in India. The immaculate planning by Tiger Memon, the fund aiding and support of ISI, the arms smuggled into Bombay, the fleeting appearance of Dawood Ibrahim are given appropriate footage to create the necessary impact. The film traces the purpose of the blasts; it shows the state of mind of the people involved, their rigorous training and poisoning of minds while they are made to listen incendiary audio cassettes.

Black Friday had remained in the cans for more than two years after its completion but the product is still very fresh and more so relevant than ever before. The narration is interspersed with news footages and archives from the 1990s.The span of incidents that occurred during Dec. 92'-May 93' are sequenced unconventionally as it goes forth, then back, and then further back then forth again.

It was banned because it takes the names of people who were involved in the chain of events, presents the truth as it is without kowtowing to any individual, religious groups, political organisation or nation.The film is for an intelligent, aware and open minded audience who are willing and eager to know the truth and understand the gravity of this incident.

Black Friday shows the minutest of details about the incidents if viewed with suffice attention. More than anything else for our generation should watch it to learn about our recent past, to understand how communalism sprouted, how intelligence agencies operate, how everybody is vulnerable because there is more to the world than meets the eye.The events 19 years ago affected us then and continues to have an effect to this day.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind - M.K. Gandhi