Why ‘Shahid’ and ‘Omerta’ are two of the most important films of Indian Cinema? Both the movies are inspired by true stories of two different and opposite characters. The one which is based on the story of Shahid Azmi, an Indian lawyer who fought for the rights of innocent people who were accused of terrorism while Omerta is about Omar Sheikh, a British terrorist of Pakistani descent. There’s a scene in 2013 film Shahid where Omar meets Shahid in Tihar jail and there we see these two characters on two different sides.
While Omar wants Shahid to join him and other radical Islamists, to which he refuses and goes on to serve his time in prison, resume his education, and become a criminal defense lawyer so that he could fight for Muslims who were wrongly charged with terrorism. These two films are important considering the prejudice created by unethical media houses, both these stories give us a reality check that a particular religion is not to be blamed. There are different people present everywhere in different mindsets.
Hansal Mehta wrote these both films, it would have been a task to write these two characters inspired from real-life events. Both the characters are on the opposite sides, also Omar was the privileged one compared to Shahid though he chose a path against humanity while Azmi became the savior of humanity. There’s a beautiful dialogue where Shahid explains his story by saying, “By showing me injustice, God taught me about justice.” While Omar is brainwashed by cruel institutions.
These two different characters and their stories act as an eye-opener!
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