Filmmakers refused to portray partition
(No Ratings Yet)Films are a mirror to society, but Hindi cinema has deliberately refused to portray partition, which led to communal violence, bloodshed and widespread destruction in India and Pakistan, said noted film scholar Ira Bhaskar.
There are only a few exceptions like “Garam Hawa”, “Veer Zaara” or “Dharmaputra”, Bhaskar said at a lecture on ‘The Persistence of Memory: Historical Trauma and Imagining the Community in Indian Cinema’ Tuesday night.
“The work on partition really began after 1984. Before that, there were novel, short stories but there wasn’t any sustained discussion on these issues in films,” said the associate professor of arts and aesthetics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) University.
She divides work on partition in Indian cinema into three parts. The first from 1947 to 1962 - 15 years after the partition; the second in the 1970s; and third in the 1990s - after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Referring to the first period, she said: “If you look at this period, there are few films that mentioned partition. The narratives common at that time were the narratives of migration, especially about abducted women and their recovery.”
Bhaskar said the first film on partition was “Dharamputra” in 1961.
“Yash Chopra’s ‘Dharamputra’ addressed the communal crisis. The film looks at the other side of the picture - the role of Hindu fundamentalists in partition. It was a solid critique of Hindu fundamentalism and that’s why it was very radical for its time.”
“The second period of the representation of the partition is the period when new wave cinema came in, that is in the 1970s - it dealt with repressed issues in society - partition and communal conflict was among them.”
According to Bhaskar, the second phase was motivated by the growing concern of communalism seen in M.S. Sathyu’s “Garam Hawa” and Govind Nihalani’s television serial “Tamas”.
“‘Garam Hawa’ is about the pressure on the Muslim community to leave India - it portrayed the struggle for employment and equal opportunity for those Muslims who decided to stay back.
“‘Tamas’ is interesting because it has double history - history of the 1971 Bhiwandi riots and the partition. The film also shows Bhisham Sahni’s own connection with the two and Govind Nihalani’s association with the next round of Bhiwandi riots in 1984. Bhisham Sahni wrote ‘Tamas’ after visiting Bhiwandi during the riots because it brought back memories of partition.”
The third phase is after the demolition of Babri Masjid, said Bhaskar, who talked about Shyam Benegal’s “Mammo” and J.P. Dutta’s “Refugee”.
“‘Mammo’ is a film that redefines the notion of home. For Mammo, her home is where her sister is but she is not allowed to stay. The film also questions the notion of nationality.”
Bhaskar also mentioned Chopra’s “Veer-Zaara” and said: “It is an interesting example of returning to those concerns. The film has deep emotional investment in reconciliation in bringing two conflicting nations together.”
She said that some of these narratives were melodramatic because it enables in expressing a certain kind of repressed experience.
“Melodrama is a mould of intense subjective emotion. It gives voice to the inner silence. Melodrama is also sensation-oriented and enables the depiction of violence.”
Bhaskar said the melodramatic form has tried to push audiences to the extreme limit of horror and revulsion, especially post 1992.
Commenting on Pakistani films, she said there was only one film “Kartar Singh” which talked about partition.
“It is so because in Pakistan, partition is not looked upon as a curse,” she said.
Bhaskar added: “These films are not a solution to the growing problems of fundamentalism but express a desire to solve them. I think these desires need to be taken seriously. Popular cinema is one way these desires are given space and are recognised.”
— IANS
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