The film is racking up some uncommon applause from across the border. Umar Nasir Ali has been at it, telling people on his Instagram this Monday that it is one of those movies that lingers with you. He put in a good word for the box office numbers too, which are being propped up by the kind of performances you get from a man like Shah.
Cross-border praise meets audience emotion
Umar, who has his own credits in features and commercials, was in no doubt that Imtiaz’s period piece was what he was after. “Unmistakably Imtiaz,” he put it, and a very fine, moving experience at that. For him, it came down to the craft. He made a point of singling out Shah, and for anyone new to the game, he says the editing is something to be studied. Here is what Umar had to say: – A beautiful, deeply felt film – You can tell it is an Imtiaz Ali movie – An extraordinary showing from Naseeruddin – A masterclass in editing by Aarti Bajaj – And then there is AR Rahman
Why the endorsement matters
He let us in on why it hit home. With his own film, ‘Chor Aaye Hum’, in the pipeline and also looking back at the time of Partition, he was all the more keen to see how Imtiaz went about it. You can make of 1947 what you will, depending on your generation. But as he sees it, Partition is too big for any one tale. The storytellers will keep coming back to the humanity and the scars of it.
What the film is about
It is a three-generation look at the long shadow of Partition. We follow a Sikh family from Sargodha who have to make for India in 1947, and in doing so, put their home and affections in the past.
Vedang Raina is young Keenu, and when the Muslim family of his love Afsana (Sharvari) remain in Pakistan, they are put asunder. He comes back to Sargodha six years down the line and is in for a surprise that will put his life in India on a new course.
Fast forward and Keenu, now 95 and a man of business (Naseeruddin), is set on one last trip back. His grandson Nirvair, in the capable hands of Diljit, is with him to put some old business to rest.
Box office and the buzz
It was no fireworks display on day one – Rs 1.15 crore. But the good word is working. The first Monday was a little better at 1.25, and it seems the audience is behind it.
Even the late shows are holding up. If you look at BookMyShow for Delhi or Mumbai, you’ll find some nights with not many seats left. Not bad for a film that is building on its reputation, not on hype.
Craft, performances and the staying power factor
Umar is on about the precision of it all. He has no higher words for Shah, and for the way Aarti Bajaj has put the pieces together. It is that mix of heart and skill that makes it stick with you.
Then you have the music from AR, which is what it is. Put the score, the edit and the acting together and you have what is having people on either side of the border in a tizzy.
The bigger picture
Sure, it is a romance set against the backdrop of 1947, but it is also a way of thinking about migration and where you come from. There are real-life ripples to be found in the film, and you can see why it is stirring some personal feelings in viewers whose families were there in that year.
In the end, as Umar would have it, these stories don’t have an end. He and his crew will be putting their own spin on it with ‘Chor Aaye Hum’ in due time, and the talk will go on for another round.
