Partition, 1947- An event that is destined to go down in utter infamy, as one of the darkest periods in Indian history. It was a time, when humanity touched its lowest depths. A nation was divided, families torn apart, and a horrifying dance of death and destruction, rained on the people. It was an age when your religion became your only means of survival. Neighbors became enemies, while friends fell upon each other. It was the time when humanity had lost its meaning in the vicious throes of hatred. There have been many outstanding movies and novels on Partition, A Train to Pakistan, Garam Hawa, Tamas to name a few. One such movie is Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s 2003 movie Pinjar, based on Amrita Pritam’s novel.
Puro( Urmila Matondkar), is a young woman, leading a normal, happy life with her family in pre Partition India. Her father Mohanlal( Kulbhushan Kharbanda), is a well to do landowner, while her mother( Lillette Dubey), younger sister Rajjo( Isha Koppikar) and her elder brother Trilok(Priyanshu Chatterjee) totally dote on her. Puro is engaged to Ramchand( Sanjay Suri), son of Shyamlal( Alok Nath), an educated, good natured person. Like Puro, Ramchand too dotes on his mother( Farida Jalal) and his younger sister Lajjo( Sandali Sinha). All seems to be going happy and well in Puro’s family, when tragedy strikes. Puro is kidnapped forcibly from the fields by Rashid( Manoj Bajpayee), who belongs to a Muslim family, that has been having a long standing rivalry, with Puro’s family.
Puro refuses to accept Rashid, and one night, she manages to escape from his clutches and go back home. However her parents, afraid of society and also scared to face the wrath of the Muslims who are a majority in that village, ask her to go away, saying that they could no longer support her. The only person not willing to give up on Puro is her brother Trilok, who keeps searching for his sister.With no other option left, Puro, goes back to Rashid. Meanwhile Rajjo is married off to Ramchand’s cousin, while Trilok is wedded to Ramchand’s sister Lajjo. Puro marries Rashid, but by now she has become a Pinjar( skeleton), just living life with no purpose or meaning. Rashid however loves Puro dearly, and is repenting for his mistake. In the meanwhile Partition breaks out, and both Puro’s and Ramchand’s families are torn apart.
Pinjar is not just about Partition, it is also about the state of women during that period in India. It was about a period, when women had no voice of their own, and they were victims of patriarchy and society. Puro is a victim of the misdeeds of her ancestors, she is just a pawn in the rivalry between two families. As she breaks down with Rashid, she asks him “Why have you punished me for what has been done to your ancestors?”. And yet Puro is not a weak, whimpering character. She is strong minded, determined and brave. When Rasheed tells her, that she is pregnant, she tells him that for 4 months she had been carrying his sin.
Director Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, who became famous with TV serial Chanakya, creates a tale that is epic, sweeping and heart wrenching. Some really great scenes
• Puro going back to her parents home in middle of night, and then being asked to leave.
• Lajjo recognizing Puro, and breaking down in her arms
• Puro being abducted by Rashid
• The scene where the village elders ask Rashid to return the abandoned baby child back to them, as he was born to a Hindu.
The partition scenes are really harrowing, especially the scene where Ramchand escapes from a mob, and manages to save his mother and sister.
The Art direction and detailing is exemplary as the director recreates the Partition era Punjab wonderfully. The camera work is top notch too, beautifully capturing the dry land, the colorful weddings, the homes, the villages.
The movie also has some superb acting from it’s cast notably, Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpayee. Urmi goes beyond her glamor girl, Rangeela image, wonderfully conveying the transformation from a young girl to one whose life has been ruined in an instant to a feisty woman, helping out other victims.
This to me is one Manoj’s best performances ever right up there with Satya, conveying the emotions of Rashid, a man who has to bear the guilt of his action forever. Loved his performance in the scene, when he sees his burnt fields.
The movie also has top notch performances from Sanjay Suri( a highly under rated actor IMO), Kulbhushan Kharbanda( dependable as ever), Alok Nath, Sandali Sinha, Lilette Dubey and Isha Kopikkar too.
The sound track by Uttam Singh is one of my favorites, with some really good Punjabi folk tunes and songs, earthy and touching.
Maar Udari( Jaspinder Narula, Preeti Uttam, Nihar S)- The joyous song, showing the happy mood in Puro’s household.
Haath Choote(Jagjit Singh, Preeti Uttam)- Lovely song dealing with the pangs of heart break.
Vatna Ve( Uttam Singh, Roop Kumar Rathod)- Another moving song dealing with the agony of being in a divided land.
Charka Chalati Ma( Preeti Uttam)- Excellent song, show casing the pain of being born as a woman.
Pinjar is not a perfect movie, it has its own flaws. Bit too long and melodramatic at times, it could have done with some better editing. But still a movie that I would highly recommend, for its sheer intensity, its honesty, the brilliant performances of its cast and its emotional core. The movie was not a success, but in my opinion, this was one movie that deserves a lot more.