Inspired by real-life events, the story of Mulk revolves around a Muslim family from Varanasi, headed by lawyer Murad Ali Mohammed (Rishi Kapoor). Their happy life is turned upside down when his brother Bilal's (Manoj Pahwa) son Shahid (Prateik) gets involved with a terrorist leading to a bomb blast that kills several people.

Indians are terrible people, let's face it. We truly are. I realised this while watching Mulk, a Muslim-themed pastiche of Shoojit Sircar's Pink, though naturally that realisation is ever recurrent. While walking out of the film discussing xenophobia, I was forced to overhear a diatribe on how people from one of the Indian states eat humans. I don't even want to know who these people talking in front of me are, but we're definitely somebody else inside our skins.

After what seems like eons, Bollywood finally decided to abandon all subtlety and address the massive elephant in the room - communal hatred and its terrible repercussions. Mulk is a much-needed and timely attack on Islamophobia, and comes quite close to the grim reality that we now live in.

More than a film, Anubhav Sinha's Mulk is a voice. It is the voice of a section of Indian society working tirelessly to get rid of the prejudice around a certain community in the contemporary world. Recently, a motley group of intellectuals, including Bollywood actors Swara Bhasker and Zeeshan Ayub, initiated the #TalkToAMuslim Twitter campaign to bridge the communication gap between Muslims and other communities that is widening under the divisive socio-political narrative of today.

Anubhav Sinha's filmography has included action thrillers, romcoms and a superhero movie. In Mulk, the director applies some of the rules that govern commercial entertainers to a complex drama about social prejudice. Mulk, written and directed by Sinha, proceeds like an investigative thriller with lashings of topical commentary before landing up in the designated battleground of moral and ethical questions in the movies - the courtroom.

Murad Ali Mohammed (Rishi Kapoor) is a respected lawyer who lives in Lucknow with his wife, Tabassum (Neena Gupta), younger brother, Bilal (Manoj Pahwa), sister-in-law, 'Chhoti' Tabassum (Prachee Shah Paandya), nephew, Shahid (Prateik Smit Babbar), and niece, Aayat (Vartika Singh). Murad Ali Mohammed's son, Aftab (Indraneil Sengupta), and his Hindu lawyer-wife, Aarti (Taapsee Pannu), live abroad.

Mulk: POWERFUL. Bold, hard-hitting and topical content-driven film... Asks pertinent, difficult, uncomfortable questions... Strong drama... Power-packed dialogue... Director Anubhav Sinha gets it right... Recommended!

Murad Ali Mohammed (Rishi Kapoor) is a small-time lawyer living in his family house in Varanasi which has been there since before the partition. Just any other Muslim in India, Murad Ali is someone who's best friend with a Kanhaiya as he's with an Aftab. He is shown to have some personal issues with his brother, Bilaal Mohammed (Manoj Pahwa).

Films based on how certain minorities are marginalised or worse, profiled based on prejudice, follow a predictable path. Dress up the community deliberately to portray their secular streak and convey their immense respect for those from other faiths. And then, an explosion.

Mulk (meaning: country) is a film on patriotism. A middle-class Indian's love towards its country that sees no religion; the loyalty which remains even when his own disown him. Mulk is all about Murad Ali Muhammad and many such people who love their country without the need of proving their loyalty to anyone. Not an overstatement to say, there hasn't been any such movie made in Bollywood in the recent times. A brave attempt, which deserves an ovation for mere trying that subject. Before passing a verdict on this Anubhav Sinha-directorial, let's dissect the film a bit.

Plunging the audience into the horror of 'terrorism' and the devastating truth of being a minority, writer director Anubhav Sinha delivers his best in his eventful career spanning 25 years. MULK's biggest strength is its subject material that is bitterly honest, deeply disturbing, and utterly essential piece of cinema that offers a striking mirror - an incisive portrait of the society that functions on prejudice, it can be a particular society but the resonance of such prejudice is observed everywhere round the globe.

One of the most burning issues of the country and also the world, since a long time, is the perception of Muslims in society. In India, the extremely traumatic memories of Partition of 1947 compounded the Hindu-Muslim divide. As time passed, the differences reduced significantly but it still exists. Anubhav Sinha's MULK attempts to talk speak about this aspect and promises an intense, hard-hitting time to the viewers.

A fan of John Grisham books since my college days, I have always loved courtroom dramas and needless to say, the trailer of Mulk had made me quite curious, though I was somewhat sceptical too as director Anubhav Sinha's last couple of films Tum Bin 2 and Gulaab Gang were box-office duds. However, having seen 'Mulk', I can say that Sinha has redeemed himself beyond all doubts...

How does one prove that one loves one's country? And should this love be questioned in the first place? Who are the actual citizens of this country, really? Given the fact that 40 lakh people in Assam find themselves out of the citizen list, these are relevant questions indeed. Such questions have never been pointedly asked in such a fearless manner in our films.

Anubhav Sinha's Mulk is a welcome addition to a triptych of films, all with Muslim patriarchs at the centre, bringing to light the community's anguish and dilemmas in the face of divisive politics. After Balraj Sahni in Garm Hava (1973), set during the Partition, and Kaifi Azmi in Naseem (1995), about the days leading up to the Babri Masjid demolition of December 6, 1992, it's the turn of Rishi Kapoor in Mulk to articulate Muslim anxieties in the contemporary communal times.

The youngest son of a Muslim family settled in Benaras gets involved in terrorist activities, leading to a bomb blast massacre. His actions have an adverse effect on the family who are left to defend themselves as people who are innocent and not anti-nationals

Not that it broaches everything that there is to say about Islamophobia and its terrible repercussions - in fact, it really isn't possible for a single 140-minute film to cover all the dimensions of the theme - but Anubhav Sinha's Mulk is a compelling, uncommonly courageous drama that gets as close to the truth as a Mumbai film ever can, especially given the times that we live in.