Bishar Blues

This journey through the world of mystical fakirs in West-Bengal, in the eastern part of India, is an equally unconstrained and profound exploration of the , a liberal branch of Islam. Where in traditional Islam, prayer and fasting constitute the heart of religious devotion, the has placed itself outside the borders of the mosques and the religious texts. Fakirs, or Moslem mystics, disseminate the hidden knowledge of the among the population through the oral tradition of songs and tales. God is not sought outside man, but within the human mind and body. According to the , God, the prophet, and man are inseparable. Whoever learns to recognise the deeper truth of this will see that the various manifestations that cause conflict, jealousy and suffering on earth are in fact insignificant. Tolerance and contentment replace them. is a rural interpretation of Islam, with folkloristic elements and a strong focus on sexual energy, which is considered the fundamental force of man, but not always accepted by the establishment. With a keen eye on man and his environment, director Chakraborty visualises thepractises of various fakirs and their individual styles, while the explanations by an unstoppable tour guide give the images a more factual substance.