Every once in a while in between the gaudy comedies of Govinda, the love triangles of Yash Chopra and the spookily eerie stories of the Ram Gopal Varma factory comes a movie that not only touches your heart, but also leaves a deep and everlasting impact on you. Such movies are hard to make from a director?s point of view and hard to digest from a viewer?s point of view. Pinjar is one such movie that will leave a deep impact on you and you will be left wondering as to where are the answers to the questions thrown at you in the course of the film.
A better part of the first half of the movie is a sequence of song and dance rituals in the lead-up to the two marriages. They want to emphasize that Puro and Lajo will remain happy in their respective sasurals.
>>The actual story of the movie starts when Puro is kidnapped by Rashid. What unfolds is a ghastly sequence of incidents that are hard to believe in modern times. But strange as it seems, it did happen at the time of partition of the country not only to Puro, but to many other unfortunate girls like her.
>>Rashid kidnaps Puro just days before her marriage to avenge an old family feud. He did it under pressure from his family. As soon as Puro?s parents come to know about it, they immediately shun her and instead get their younger daughter ready for marriage. Why did they do so? Their answer was that they had to protect their family pride. In modern times what family pride would we talk about when a daughter is kidnapped? Was it really her fault?
>>The shallow minds of Puro?s parents come as a surprise to most viewers but stepping into their own shoes, what could we have done? Puro?s parents had to adhere to some dubious unspoken, unwritten norms of the so-called society and they did that to save face in front of their biradari. Puro?s father even stopped his son from going to search for her.
>>We see the character of Rashid turning from a villain to a hero. On his first encounter with Puro, he falls in love with her. But on his next appearance in the movie, he turns villain and kidnaps her. His love for her melts his heart and he cares for her even when she refuses to eat or drink anything for 2 days.
>>Puro lives in the false impression that if she escapes from her captor, she will be accepted by her parents but Rashid tries in vain to explain it to her that she has no place left in her own home. When she eventually manages to escape, she is turned away by her parents in the middle of the night. Rashid takes her back and she is left with no option but to accept the marriage with Rashid.
Ek Aur Pinjar (A small yet moving incident from the movie)
*This is what Puro says when she sees Pagli, the mentally unstable woman played by Seema Biswas. Puro cares for her, gives her food whenever she asks for it and finally adopts her new-born child. She looks after the child for 6 months when the Hindus of the village start questioning the boy?s religion. Their pointless reason? Pagli was a Hindu, so her child should be a Hindu and therefore has no right to live in a Muslim family!
*Rashid dutifully defends his wife but in the end has to bow in front of the Hindu dominated Panchayat. It is worth noting here that at a time when the caste and racial discrimination was at its peak in undivided India, the Hindus cared little to know of the caste of the child. They knew nothing about the father of that boy and yet they proclaimed him to be a Hindu. The film interestingly remains silent with regards to the caste they decide for the child.
*As the families get divided in the Hindu-Muslim riots at the time of partition, we see that Lajo (played by Sandali Sinha) is kidnapped by a Muslim and held captive in her own home. When Puro comes to know about Lajo, she requests Rashid to help her escape. This is where Rashid is shown to have a character of steel. They both not only find Lajo, but also help her escape. As Lajo is being taken back home by Ramchand, we see Puro getting a chance to return to her family. Even Rashid begins to believe that Puro will remain happier with her own family. But she clings on to Rashid as she realizes his inherent goodness and love for her. As for Lajo, she knew that she will never be happy after she saw the fate of Puro.
*The star cast consisting of Manoj Bajpai, Urmila Matondkar and Priyanshu Chatterjee has given the performance of a lifetime. Useful cameos by Sandali Sinha and Sanjay Suri make this movie a gem. The music of Uttam Singh blended well with the Punjabi rural background of the movie. Credit must go to the fabulous direction of Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi who made this movie a masterpiece. This is surely the best ever performance of the Rangeela girl. I heard that this year, Manoj Bajpai got a special national award for his performance of Rashid.
*In course of the movie, we see a change in the outlook of the society at large. The society that made Puro an outcast simply because she was abducted by a Muslim began to accept thousands of such girls when they were left stranded in the middle of nowhere. The sad fate of Puro was a reality that is hard to digest in modern times. Maybe some scars of the partition have healed. Maybe we have other things to care for now. But have we really progressed towards a utopian society? Such incidents may still be happening in remote corners of our country and we may be completely unaware about them.
*At the end of the movie, you will be left flabbergasted as to why did Puro?s parents abandon her in her plight? You will be left wondering that if partition was a necessity; could the migration of populations have been done peacefully? Or was it only for the whims and fancies of a few selfish leaders who wanted things to go their own way?
Many more questions come up in this movie. I have touched upon only a few delicate topics.