As I write this, it is over a month since I saw Mein Vaapas Aaonga (MVA)… owing to a combination of allowing thoughts to marinate and, admittedly, a wee procrastination at the tail end… as always, everything happens for the good! I happened to watch Odyssey a few days ago, and that too enriched the marination
I heard
about MVA thanks to Nayanika, a co-scripter of the film. However, my initial
enthusiasm to experience the film was quickly curbed as the film was mostly
scheduled for night shows and that too at theatres as “far away” as a 30-minute
drive from home in Madras, where I live.
Soon, enthusiastic audience recommendations began to spread as
we understand was the case with other exceptional films such as The Sound of
Music and Sholay, both of
which, we are given to believe had a rather lackluster start at the box office.
Their legend grew through successive waves of word-of-mouth
recommendations from filmgoers—the most enduring influencer of all.
From my
vantage point, the positive outcome was that soon, MVA featured in a theatre
within the range of my “preferred commute time” with a matinee show prompting
me to get tickets before they were sold out.
A few thoughts that stayed with me, although not in any particular order…
Supported
by a brilliant script, Naseeruddin Shah delivers one of the finest
performances of his remarkable career offering solace (!) to long suffering fans like yours truly, whose
(abiding) fervent wish is to see him on the screen more often.
The story is a love story—but far from just another love
story.
The manner
in which the couple experience the pain of the longing to be in each other’s
company and the sensory experiences that turn gentle heartbeats into
pounding hearts is nicely brought
out showcasing their innocence.
When the
boy is “caught” with the girl by her parents at her house at an awkward hour, she
responds with courage and conviction, a welcome departure from the stereotyped depiction
of women in celluloid.
This is
also reflected in the spine-chilling life or death decisions that the senior
ladies of the community take as well when personal dignity is in question.
One image remains etched in my memory. As violence erupts,
the camera slowly pans across flowers blooming peacefully beneath a luminous
moon, utterly indifferent to the human tragedy unfolding nearby.
Sadly, many
in the audience walked out as soon as the end titles appeared, missing a deeply
evocative song accompanied by thought-provoking visuals.
The screenplay deserves equal credit, not only for its
storytelling but for the nuanced characterisation of every role, particularly
that of Naseeruddin Shah.
For someone
like me who grew up in the south with no direct exposure to the horrific events
during the Partition, this provided lots of insights and raised questions:
· When the decision was made to split
the country, the option was given to families on either side of the border to relocate.
As Keenu asks fervently, “why do I have to leave my home?”as the option quickly
became the mandate.
· The violence that lashed out on
either side of the border was the painful clarification to his question, as the
script bloodily depicted. On hindsight, what prompted the violence that
destroyed neighborhood relationships, possibly nurtured over decades and
decades.
· Looking
back, one wonders how decisions taken by a relatively small number of political
leaders resulted in such enormous human suffering.
· Even more that a British
lawyer with little first-hand familiarity with the subcontinent was tasked to draw
boundaries in a matter of weeks under extraordinary political pressure … lines
that, once drawn, were implemented with tragic speed and devastating
consequences. …unleashing
violence that destroyed so many lives with pillage and plunder of horrific scale…
· Even during the implementation, public
order was not effectively maintained by the rulers at the time.
· Whether
the departing administration could have done more to prevent the violence
remains a question historians continue to debate.
· I am not aware as to whether any
form of an accountability exercise was conducted as all of this happened during
a time of significant and sensitive leadership transition.
· How tortuous it must have been for
the victims on either side of the border to rebuild their lives after
experiencing such terror. Maybe that’s why the whole experience of Partition may
have been erased from the active consciousness of the victims, and, perhaps for
good reason allowing many of their successors on both sides to rebuild
and eventually thrive despite the scars left by lives that had been violently
upended.
· Decades after the tragedy, it is sad
that the hostility on either side of the border has only worsened. Especially
considering the questionable triggers mentioned above.
· Did
we, as a civilisation, allow ourselves to be manipulated into divisions that
outlived colonial rule?
· Sadly, the politics between the two
nations have only worsened over the decades.
· What
if, with the passage of time and greater historical maturity, there emerges a
wider appreciation of the sheer futility of the forces that tore apart two
societies with a deeply shared civilisational and cultural heritage?
· Despite all that happened, over
the decades, I have met many Pakistanis abroad, and almost invariably there has
been a spontaneous sense of familial warmth that is difficult to articulate.
· However, I also recognize that, for
every Indian and Pakistani who cherish unity, consistent propaganda on both
sides has ensured that the overwhelming majority feel the exact opposite.
As millions continue to be
displaced by conflict across the world, one can only hope that reason
eventually triumphs over hatred.
Long after the lights came up, I realised that it wasn't only the
protagonist who promised, "Mein Vaapas Aaonga"—the film itself keeps
returning.
