Pinjar- The horror of Partition
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 horiffying dance of death and destruction, rained on the people. It was an age when your religion became your only means of survival. Where Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, had earlier lived as neighbours for centuries, they now turned against each other. Neighbours 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. Apparently Puro’s ancestors, had treated Rashid’s ancestors, shabbily, making them totally indebted and homeless. Rashid’s Great Aunt, was kidnapped and then left by Puro’s Great uncle, and egged on by his own uncles, Rashid had kidnapped Puro in revenge.
Rashid also loves Puro, and though he did not want to hurt Puro, it was the constant forcing by his uncles that made him do it. 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. What happens next is best to be seen on screen.
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.
Puro is a woman, who from time to time, is let down by every one close to her. Her parents tell her not to come back, because it would mean shame for their family, and as her father helplessly pleads, he has 2 more daughters to be married. Ironically when Lajjo refuses to go back saying that who would accept her, after she is abducted, Puro explains to her, that now because every one has been suffering the same pain, people would be more sensitive. But Puro does not sit around lamenting her fate, she is feisty and bold enough to help Lajjo from the clutches of her abductors. She picks up an abandoned baby child, and nurses it like her own son. Truly in Hindi cinema, Puro is one of the finest female characters ever etched.
Rashid on the other hand, is a person tormented for ever by guilt. He is a man deeply in love with Puro, and yet does not want to force himself on her. He is a person, caught between his family honor and love for Puro. When Puro asks him to help Lajjo out, he sees it as an act of redemption for all his sins. In fact the relationship between Puro and Rashid, is the strongest point of Pinjar. She hates him, detests him for having ruined her life, and yet later when she finds that he is the only person to have stood by her, she slowly begins to love him.
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.
At places though, the movie gets a tad too melodramatic. The scene where Puro meets Ramchand at the fields is somewhat too contrived, did not really have the necessary emotional impact.
The director takes great care to recreate the period look for the movie, bringing to life Punjab in the Partition days. The atmosphere, the costumes, the manner of speaking is totally realistic. Even the houses look totally natural, nothing too overdone there. The cinematography by Santosh Thundiayil is brilliant, as he beautifully captures the fields, the parched earth, the colorful Punjabi weddings, the homes, the villages. In fact so realistic is the depiction, that you can actually feel the atmosphere and setting.
The music by Uttam Singh is great, as he comes up with a score, that is Punjabi in ethos, but goes beyond the standard “Shava, Shava” and “Soniye” stuff.
Maar Udari( Jaspinder Narula, Preeti Uttam, Nihar S)- A joyous song picturized on Puro, Rajjo and her family.
Haath Choote(Jagjit Singh, Preeti Uttam)- Lovely song dealing with pangs of heart break.
Vatna Ve( Uttam Singh, Roop Kumar Rathod)- One of my favorites, beautifully capturing the hero’s anguish over Partition.
Charka Chalati Ma( Preeti Uttam)- Another beautiful song, expressing the agony of how it is to be born as a girl.
The strongest point of Pinjar are its performances. Urmila Matondkar is just brilliant as Puro. Gettting rid of her trademark pouts, giggles and making faces, Urmi gets straight into the skin of her character, to deliver a performance that is sensitive, restrained and natural. From a bubbly young girl to a woman whose life has been ruined in one instant to a feisty, determined, young woman, Urmi, goes through the whole gamut. It is sad that she was not even nominated for any award, just because the movie was not a commercial success. But i would rate it as one of the best performances of this decade to date. In fact during 2003-04 Urmi gave a series of brilliant performances in Bhoot, Pinjar, Ek Hasina Thi. It is so sad to see her in total B Grade stuff like Speed and Karzzz nowadays.
Complementing Urmi, is Manoj Bajpayee, as Rashid, in another brilliant performance. Totally underplaying his character, with restraint, Manoj brilliantly brings out the feelings of guilt, pain and sorrow. Never once does he resort to any over the top antics, and yet he manages to make you totally empathize with his character. The scene where he breaks down, after seeing the burnt crops in his field is just brilliant.
Sanjay Suri is again brilliant as Ramchand, giving a performance that is again natural and restrained. He is especially first rate during the Partition scenes, again evoking the emotions without going over the top. I just wonder why this talented actor never really gets his due, while less talented actors, strut about. Is it because he is not associated with any filmy family? Watching movies like Pinjar, i just feel sad, that actors like Manoj and Sanjay, have to languish on the sidelines, while lesser talented actors get all the breaks, just because of their background.
Priyanshu Chatterjee however is not too convincing, as Puro’s brother Trilok. Felt his performance was stiff at times, and for me he was the weak link. Kulbushan Kharbanda, another underrated actor, is as usual first rate as Puro’s helpless father. Lilette Dubey as Puro’s mother, Farida Jalal as Ramchand’s mother, Alok Nath as Shamlal, Isha Koppikar as Rajjo, Sandali Sinha as Lajjo all offer good support to the movie.
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.
Tags: Amrita Pritam, Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Manoj Bajpayee, Partition, sanjay suri, Urmila Matondkar
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Nice write up..:)
Yes, this is truly a very underrated film. I remember my Asian Studies professor telling me about this film when it released in cinemas. He was among a group of just a dozen people in the cinema hall. I was happy to see it get a release here in Vancouver, Canada, but the audience response didn’t change. I know my prof saw the film more than once, just to try and support it in his own way.
Thanks Ratnakar…Pinjar deserves a good article like this one.
Partition is one of the most potent yet under-used themes in Hindi film history. An event of such magnitude and so many human stories, was left untouched by popular cinema for the lack of cinematic sense on our part. (The audience as well as makers.)
Sa’adat Hassan Manto’s phenomenal stories on partition have rarely been filmed…and that’s why an otherwise ‘not-so-great’ Pinjar becomes a greatly-important film of our era.
Though it was still not even close to the real gravity of the novel…and the background score is pathetic at most of the places. But yes, performances by Bajpai, and Urmila (that Marathi twang hurt here though) add a lot to the EQ.
Another good work with ripples of partition was ‘Khamosh Pani’…which kind of takes Puro’s story forward.
I remember Pinjar having released in 2003 during Diwali & there was hardly any other good bollywood movie that released.Saw it on the day of release in Mumbai without too much of expectation and I really enjoyed the movie.Urmila,Manoj & Sanjay in particular did extremely well.I think Chandraprakash Dwivedi was able to capture Amirta Pritam’s novel well on screen.
When Pinjar was released, I remember I had an exam going on. Hence I later watches it on TV. BUt looking at the reviews, I had always had a curiosity as to what the movie would be like. The movie was actually better than expected, and Urmila came out as the undisputed winner with her acting talent. I’ve a;ways felt that Urmila is a director’s actor. There are many actors in our film industry who deliver to their potential, if they get a good director and good scripts. This movie satisfies the both. Also, this movie is special for me because it aroused my interest in partition literature and I read sadat hasan manto’s partition stories. it has been a great eye opener and some of these stories are serious movie material. I’m hoping for some sensible movies made out of them.
manoj bajpai won a national award for his role..a great movie!
if anyone could give me a contact of Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi , or his office address.. i’d be really thankful . my mail is strings.aysh@yahoo.com
If anytbody hasnt read the novel by Amrita Pritam…please read it.
While Dwivedi has made a good movie here and bajpai really did a wonderful job he hasnt been able to capture the right feeling and essence of the book.
I think the book is far far more intense and the writing very vivid.
also feel an intense punjabi girl like Anita kanwar (of buniyaad) would have played it much better than urmila….
BTW where is Anita kanwar… miss her a ton.
bollywood movies based on partition have always focussed on punjab ,dunno why ??
while the horror was much the same for bengal ,I guess events in Bengal can make up for some spectacular cinema…..
@ Vineet, to the best of my knowledge, most of the Partition novels and stories came from Punjab. I am not sure, if there were any Bong novels, dealing with parition of East Bengal. But yes the events in Noakhali, could make up for a compelling viewing.
Hey Ram in fact dealt with Partition riots in Kolkata. Those riots are what turns Kamal into a fundamentalist.
@ DnD-8
Have not read the novel, though i heard of it. Urmi did a fairly good job, i never liked her much, but in this movie, i was really impressed by her acting.
Anita Kanwar appeared in some movies, usually playing Maa-Bhabhi roles, right now, i think she is not much active.
@ Daljeeet
Yeah it is a truly underrated movie. Even here in India, it did not run well, but i guess it did decent business in Punjab. One reason why the movie did not work much, was there was no jingoism here. It was a movie that spoke of Humanity, and i guess that appeal did not go down well.
@ Varun
Did manage to read some of Sadat’s stories, and they were wonderful. Humane, sensitive and touching. Am hoping some can adopt Toba Tek Singh to big screen.
Actually in earlier times, there were some really good movies on Parition like Garam Hawa and Tamas, but again there was a lull in between. I guess it was this kinda disinterest in the topic, that made Anil Sharma turn an event like Partition into a super hero movie like Gaddar.
@Ratnakar Sadasyula : Gadar was lifted from a gurdas maan movie called ’shaheed-e-mohabbat’ where he had played a character called boota singh. not many ppl seem to know abt this
the premise was copied but they introduced the jingoistic appeal and added a masala climax
Hey man, just Ratnakar will do.
Yeah i know the basic story, actually Gaddar was good up to a point, but from the moment Sunny reaches Pakistan, the movie goes totally downhill.
@Ratnakar: blame it on copy-paste, the IT habit
Ratnakar…just two films Garam Hawa (a rare gem which remained mostly unseen), and Tamas (a TV series for all practical purposes) don’t count for anything. And calling them in ‘earlier times’ won’t be right i guess. What abt the first 30 years of independence…
But yes, Anil Sharma’s take clearly shows the potential of the subject…even though it showed it all in the worst way possible. Poor Handpumps and all.
And Gadar was more or less a masala version of Gurdaas Maann and Divya Dutta’s personal magnum opus; which in turn is based on a true story of a truck driver Buta Singh who went back to Pakistan to fetch his wife.
Pinjar is beautiful and wel directed movies, its almost directed as its written
Dr, Dwedi has done justice with Amrita’s novel.apart movie’s star cast also a wisely chosen, Urmila has proven her acting skills magically, as she is a Marathi girl,,and she played a Punjabi girl’s character amazingly..rest manoj has also done justice wid Rashid’s role…..i love that funny and silly old lady’s character whose son kidnapped rajjo…..O NEK BAKHT DHAANG SE KAAM KAR…….CHULLEH ME GAYA TERA YE BHASAM OR JANTAR,,,,,,sound so funny…i love dis movie…Pinjar is amezing movie,,must watch
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