Partition (2007)

Director:

Vic Sarin

Writers:

Patricia Finn (writer)
Vic Sarin (writer)

Release Date:

2 February 2007 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Bound By Love. Separated By History.

Plot:

Gian Singh & Avtar Singh are officers with the Indian Army serving under the command of Andrew Stilwell...

Plot Keywords:

Pakistan | Sikh | Muslim | India | Love

Awards:

2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Jimi Mistry	...	Gian Singh / Mohammad Hassan
Kristin Kreuk	...	Naseem Khan
Neve Campbell	...	Margaret Stilwell
John Light	...	Walter Hankins
Irrfan Khan	...	Avtar Singh
Madhur Jaffrey	...	Shanti Singh
Aarya Babbar	...	Akbar Khan
Lushin Dubey	...	Mumtaz Khan
Chenier Hundal	...	Zakir Khan
Jesse Moss	...	Andrew Stilwell
Jaden Rain	...	Vijay G. Singh
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dolly Ahluwalia	...	Rani
Darshan Aulahk	...	Man #1
Baljinder Bhangu	...	Policeman #1
Bhavna	...	Woman #2
Maniki Deep	...	Person in Crowd #1
Rupi Dhillon	...	Singing Mother
Dhirendra	...	Sharma
Jonathan Holmes	...	News Reader
Sukhwinder Kaur	...	Woman #1
Rajesh Khera	...	Arjuna - Sarsa Villager
Thomas Kretschmann
Mina E. Mina	...	Salim
Shraddha Nigam	...	Manjula
Vinay Pathak	...	Ram
Abdul H. Quadri	...	Iman
Rupinder	...	Man #2
Jasmine Sarin	...	Yasmine
Maya Sarin	...	Maya Singh
Parvesh Sethi	...	Policeman #2
Manoj Sood	...	The Wood Gatherer
Parm Soor	...	Pakistani Customs Officer
Sukrita	...	Person in Crowd #2
Amar Talwar	...	Khan
Dhruv Tripathi	...	Vimal

MPAA:

Rated R for some violent and disturbing images.

Runtime:

Germany:116 min (European Film Market)

Country:

Canada | South Africa | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia)

Filming Locations:

Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Partition Films Inc.

Interesting and odd mish-mash!

Here's an oddball mix: A Canadian film dealing with a Sikh-Muslim love story set against the partition of India in 1947, with Kristin Kreuk playing the lead Muslim girl (Naseem), Neve Campbell playing a British Indian, and everyone – from the villagers to the city folk, despite being mostly uneducated - speaking English of various accent!!! The director (himself of Kashmiri descent) has SOME gall, I must say.

The camera loves Kreuk, as it should, and surprisingly enough, she gets the physical nuances right. Campbell also gives one of her more subtle performances, but the standout here is Jimi Mistry as the Sikh ex-soldier. The central love story is nothing new (the film seems like a different handling of the loud, crude, jingoistic, and ultimately inferior Indian film Gadar), and no aspect of it covers any new ground. There are some moments of poignancy and warmth, but the director moves the story along with broad strokes, instead of letting it flow and fleshing out the surrounding events. As it stands, it is all quite predictable, and some of the dialogue is atrocious. Many characters (notably Naseem's family) come across as shallow and are simply used as stereotypes, so there goes any complexity that might have been developed.

There are some beautiful shots throughout, and thankfully there are no musical interludes (which would have been likely if the film had been made in Bollywood). The child actor was also good, and I wish we could have seen more of Irrfan Khan than the bit part he plays. The scene where Naseem dances in the rain with only a shirt on, is pure fantasy on the director's part, and nobody kissed that openly back in the 40s and 50s, even married couples. A reality check was in order, Mr. Sarin.

Still, despite the hodge-podge of ideas and unrealistic scenes, the film is watchable, and even moving at times. But it could easily have been much better, and the backdrop of cultural conflict deserves a more in-depth, intelligent handling.