“Partition” is the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers whose families don’t approve of each other’s spouse. Sound familiar? Self-described as a “latter-day Romeo and Juliet,” the strength of this movie is not in its unoriginal choice of theme, but in the context and subtleties that makes it unique.

There are two main storylines in this film, and each survives essentially with the other to fall back on. There is of course the love story; and there is the story of the partition.

The partition is the time in India when the British rule was coming to an end, and the nation is divided into Muslim Pakistan and Sikh and Hindu India. The relevance of reworking a love story with this historical backdrop creates awareness and dialogue around the topic of religion and religious conflict. This is important when religion seems to be one of the things that divides us most these days. (In fact, the region between India and Pakistan mentioned in the movie is still not entirely peaceful.)

The film does not take sides by showing either side as worse than the other, which is very commendable. Although more of the film is spent with the Sikhs, both the Sikhs and the Muslims are shown at their best – most loving and compassionate – and at their worst – as ruthless killers. This creates a clear sense of sympathy with both groups. The writers have also done effective work in not stereotyping the characters in either religion.

Where the film falls short is not in weak writing, but more in weak directing. There are certain scenes in the film that are simply unbelievable. One example is the amount of time between the lovers’ first kiss and when they are married with a child (this takes mere seconds on screen). Another example is how quickly the young woman gets accepted into the society her people are at war with. Neither of these occurrences are implausible, but they just happen too quickly on the screen (almost laughably so). Another shortcoming is the noticeable changes in the styles and colours of the beards of some of the actors. This makes the audience realize some of them are fake, and takes something away from the credibility of the movie.

Although it is not really a bad film, and although the historical backdrop makes it stronger and more interesting, it basically feels like a love story that has been told a million times. “Partition” cannot hold a candle to similar wide release Indian films. This movie is for those interested in the historical aspects of the partition, but for a more original and powerful film about India, I would strongly suggest Deepa Mehta’s recently Oscar-nominated epic, “Water.”

3*/5*






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