Main waapas aaunga

 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.