Wounds are fresh,
On minds and souls,
Many a times a heart roars,
With pain and grief,
For children fight,
To gain a piece of a mother's heart.
Definitions are opposite here.
Bravery, it is to fight,
Silence stands for cowardice,
Children kill children,
Mother waits for knives to run.
The nation is on fire. People are killing each other in name of religion. It's the year 1947 and India will never be the same as it has been till today. On the brighter side, India will be free from clutches of British. But freedom in bargain for a never ending unhealthy debates between Hindus and Muslims. Debates that often grow gory.
Somewhere deep in the human jungle,
Innocence runs dry,
When a girl is forced to pry,
The very element of identity.
Parents are told what not to do,
Helpless as they are,
They let go a limb of their own,
As if it never were.
An incident changes lives,
And thus goes a tale,
Of innocence, guilt, hope and tears.
In such circumstances a family with three daughters and two sons and a mother and father live a normal happy life. One of the girls Puro is to soon to be wedded to a scholar named Ramchand. Everything is picture perfect until one day Puro is abducted by a young man named Rashid. The reason is a age old rivalry between their families. A woman from Rashid's family was once abducted by a man from Puro's family and hence Puro has to pay for the crime once committed by her fore fathers. Woman as she is, she is the most convenient prey. Puro's parents have no other choice but to desert her as two more daughters are to be wedded in the family.
An incident occurs and changes the whole life for Puro. To save grace of the family, Puro's sister Rajjo is married off to Ramchand's cousin brother. Rashid proposes marriage to Puro and Puro has no other choice but to agree.
Many a times blood runs high,
In the ruined drains of narrow lanes
Someone seems deeply hurt.
Runs in a couple of eyes,
The pain of loosing someone precious.
Searching for his sister,
A brother walks at nights,
Deep in lanes of an inhumane forest.
Puro's brother Trilok is the only person in the whole family who tries to search for his sister. He strives hard but in vain. But he doesn't lose hope. He gets married to Ramchand's sister Laajo. Even after marriage, Trilok's search for Puro goes on.
Dark is the night,
But somewhere humanity still strives,
The creature who stole innocence once,
In shadows of guilt spends sleepless nights.
Many a times tears flow,
Turning the creature into a humble man.
Puro leads a lifeless life. She has minimized herself to nothing more than a cage of bones strolling in Rashid's house. Rashid tries every way to keep Puro happy. He has a heart heavy with guilt which he can confess to no one else but himself. He tries every way to help Puro get back to her normal life.
But not every creature lives to be a man,
Innocence is kicked and slammed.
In form of women and girls,
Creatures find a prey,
Using religion for a name,
They feel free to lose humanity nowhere.
As days pass by, Ramchand and his family is ridden off their own home. They are on their way to India when Ramchand's sister Laajo is abducted by a group of young men.
A reason to live,
Shows itself on the horizons,
It gives strength to a woman,
The need to save innocence,
Gives life a new dimension.
A man deeply lost in guilt,
An objective waits for him,
To pay for his heinous sin,
Willing he is to give his blood.
Puro needs to search for Laajo. She wants to save a Laajo from leading another Puro's life. To save Laajo, Puro is willing to do anything. Rashid sees his chance to repay for his crime. It's now or never for him. If now he is not able to save Laajo, he can never ever face himself in his whole life.
Pinjar is a tale of lives shattered across boundaries. The movie invests mainly on emotional values. And more importantly the magic works. Pinjar brings a gulp in throats. The pain comes effectively alive onscreen with the help of raw camera work, enchanting art direction and brilliant direction. Many a times, eyes get that wet feeling as images move. The pace of the movie is a lill' bit slow but more important is that the movie doesn't bore at any point of time. Moreover fast pace could have ruined the effect of the movie. A movie like Pinjar needs to grow slowly on minds of viewers. And that's what it exactly does.
The Performances:
One of the strongest poles on which Pinjar stands is the Performances by it's lead actors.
Urmila plays Puro to the core of the character. The part of the movie where she flees away from Rashid's hideout and where she looks towards her parents for acceptance. The shock of denial she faces. The blanket vendor she portrays in an effort to save Laajo. Her facial expressions and body language during the climax of the movie. She excels in each n' every scene of the flick.
The most meaty part in male characters belongs to Manoj Bajpai. Rashid has gray shades which get washed away with his tears to give a
new white character of a matured man. Be it the scene where he tries to molest Puro, be it his silence when he discovers who burnt his fields or be it his breakdown scene towards the end. He is a surefire winner.
Priyanshu Chaterjee plays Trilok with confidence. His restlessness over his inability to search Puro is expressed brilliantly. Priyanshu comes as a pleasant surprise.
Sanjay Suri plays Ramchand with conviction. One more actor to look forward to on the horizon.
Sandali Sinha proves her mettle too. She is successful in evoking care in viewer's heart for Laajo.
Kulbhushan Kharbanda is brilliant as Puro's father.
Isha Kopikar, Farida Jalal, Lilette Dubay and Seema Biswas give strong support.
The Technical Front:
Pinjar is based on Amrita Pritam’s novel of the same name.
Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi has handled the sensitive plot with much needed care. He has his grip over the narrative of the story. Especially the execution of dramatic scenes is artfully handled without letting them go over the top.
Art Direction & Costume Design by Muneesh Sappel and Cinematography by Santosh Thunidiyil create the atmosphere of partition times almost perfectly. The lights and color lenses are used effectively to give the classic feel. The costumes and sets are brilliantly brought to life. No stones left unturned in this category.
The music of the movie is one more plus point. Uttam Singh gives the Punjabi folk tunes excellently complimenting Gulzarsaab's richly penned https://lyrics. Songs can be heard over and over again. Choodiyonki Tokri, Maar Udaari, Vatana ve, Haath choote bhi to, Charkha Chalati maa and Darda Marya are beautifully placed in the movie. Each song is situational. Thus letting no room for the movie to lag behind the viewer's thoughts.
Pinjar comes in as a refreshing change from normal masala flicks. Providing the much needed food for thought, leaving the viewer restless wondering the density of pain caused by partition and the human value lost in the mean fight of religions, Pinjar hits hearts with a bang. Movies like Pinjar need to be watched and made successful if movie-goers are serious when they say they want something different. No doubt Pinjar is a work of art.
