Now Reading: Two Bollywood films retell Partition without hatred, vitriol
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Two Bollywood films retell Partition without hatred, vitriol
In two months, Hindi cinema has seen the release of two big films set during the Partition of India: Main Vaapas Aaunga and Batwara 1947. Both focus on the human cost of…
The Story in Brief
In two months, Hindi cinema has seen the release of two big films set during the Partition of India: Main Vaapas Aaunga and Batwara 1947. Both focus on the human cost of Partition instead of political upheaval, highlighting love and hope. Imtiaz Ali's Main Vaapas Aaunga is a love story of a young Sikh man and a woman separated by Partition, while Rajkumar Santoshi's Batwara 1947 stars Sunny Deol as a Muslim man sheltering a Hindu woman. The directors say the films acknowledge both courage and barbarity during Partition.
The Indian Opinion
There is a tendency to accuse Bollywood of either exploiting Partition for jingoism or avoiding it altogether. These two films, however, take a middle path: they neither glorify violence nor ignore it. By centring personal love and loss, they remind us that ordinary people experienced Partition as a human tragedy, not just a political event. The test will be whether such storytelling can hold its own against louder, more polarising narratives at the box office.
Source: hindustantimes.com
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