The horror of India's
partition, in particular the partition of Punjab,
has been visited by many prominent writers like
Bisham Sahni, Amrita Pritam, Rahi Masoom Reza,
Ismat Chugtai and of course Sadat Hassan Manto
just to name a few. Hindi Cinema too has seen
various films made with the partition as a backdrop
like Manmohan Desai's Chhalia (1960),
Yash Chopra's
Dharamputra (1961), MS Sathyu's Garam
Hawa (1973), Govind Nihalani's Tamas (1986),
Pamela Rooks' Train to Pakistan (1998),
Manoj Punj's Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh
(1999), Anil Sharma's Gadar: Ek Prem
Katha (2001) and Chandra Prakash Dwivedi's
Pinjar (2003) though admittedly one senses
a discomfort our filmmakers have in openly dealing
with this sordid chapter in the two countries'
history.
But what of films looking at this dreadful holocaust
from the other side, from Pakistan? Especially
since the two countries' perception of partition
is so different. To India by and large there is
hurt and bitterness as we feel that we lost a
part of ourselves when the country was divided
whereas to Pakistan, it was a triumph with them
getting their homeland after much suffering and
sacrifice. Yes, 1947: Earth was based
in Lahore on Pakistani writer Bapsi Sidhwa's book
The Ice-Candy Man but the film was made
by a director of Indian origin (Deepa Mehta) and
largely with an Indian cast and crew so in that
sense it could hardly qualify to be Pakistani.
Similarly Khamosh Pani
(2003), though directed by the Pakistani filmmaker
Sabiha Sumer, has a cast and crew that is mixed
with among others - screenplay writer Paromita
Vohra and key cast members like Kirron Kher and
Shilpa Shukla from India. However, one Pakistani
film looking at the partition that one came across
by accident when a fellow filmmaker friend visited
Pakistan and on returning gave one its VCD to
view, was the Punjabi film Kartar Singh (1959).
The film proved to be quite an eye opener especially
since one knew little about the Pakistani film
industry. Notwithstanding the fact that one has
always been given this fixed 'image' of Pakistan.
 Unheard
of this side of the Wagah border, Kartar Singh
is, in fact, considered one of the all-time great
Punjabi films to ever come out of Pakistan. The
film is written and directed by Saif-ud-din Saif
and stars Sudhir, a top hero of Pakistani films
for 4 decades, Mussarat Nazir - known later on
for her rendering and popularisation of Punjabi
folk songs like Mera Laung Gawacha and
Latte di Chaadar, Bahar, Laila, Zarif,
the great playback singer Inayat Hussain Bhatti
and Allaudin in the title role of Kartar Singh.
Kartar Singh is set in a village in Punjab, India;
a 'symbolic village' inhabited by Sikhs, Muslims
and Hindus who live in harmony. Prominent among
the villagers are the vaid Prem Nath (Zarif),
one of the most repected men in the village, Umer
Din (Sudhir), a World War II veteran who fought
in Burma and Kartar Singh (Allaudin), a Sikh character
who is a petty criminal and occasionally could
be quite a trouble maker. When India is partitioned,
the Muslims of the village including Umer Din
and his lady love (Mussarat Nazir) leave amidst
the violence and rioting for their new home, Pakistan.
Umer Din's sister is abducted by the Sikhs but
she is protected by an elderly Sikh who gives
her shelter and looks after her. When his son
tries to force himself on her, the old man kills
him. The old man sends Umer Din a letter that
his sister is safe and unviolated and sends her
safely to Pakistan. Kartar Singh on one of his
raids has a scuffle with Umer Din, who works with
the Border Police, at the border. Umer shoots
him but just wounds him and lets him go. His life
saved, Kartar Singh has a change of heart and
in order to redeem himself, takes Umer's younger
brother, sheltered by Prem Nath, back to him in
Pakistan, dying at the border in the process as
Umer feels he has come on one of his raids again
and shoots him down...
Kartar Singh, though terribly dated
in its technique, still works somewhat due to
the powerful inherent story. The film manages
to bring out the horrors of partition, of how
man debased himself totally and the absolute,
senseless violence he unleashed on a fellow human
being in the name of religion. In fact, what strikes
one as a pleasant surprise about Kartar Singh,
actually is the restraint in the story in terms
of dealing with the various communities and bringing
forth the message of humanity. There is no blatant
India bashing or Hindu-Sikh bashing as one would
have otherwise thought. If Kartar Singh is a trouble
maker and the Sikhs are responsible for the rioting
and killing of Muslims, there are also other Sikhs
like the elderly Sikh who balance them out with
his goodness, even killing his own son to protect
an abducted Muslim woman's honour. And Kartar
Singh too, the main villain of the film, finally
repents his dark deeds and sacrifices his life
as he returns Umer Din's brother to him in Pakistan
(though it has to be said here that the border
scuffle and Kartar Singh's subsequent change is
unconvincing and happens only because the script
demands it rather than it appear to happen naturally).
The vaid Prem Nath, a Hindu, too is a righteous
and good man who shelters Umer Din's younger brother
and is pained by the disintegration of the village
due to the partition. True, no one from the Muslim
community has been portrayed as negative but then
they are a minority in the village and ultimately
have to suffer and leave for Pakistan where they
have to rebuild their lives from scratch. So in
that sense, the film is as balanced as could be,
keeping the bigger human picture in mind. Especially
since patriotism is normally one sided with our
guys being the good guys and the other side always
being the bad guys. After all, our films here
too look largely at the effect the partition has
had on our people, often the victims of Muslim
attacks and abductions.
A highlight of Kartar Singh is undoubtedly
its music by Salim Iqbal, the stand out composition
being the rendering of Amrita Pritam's landmark
poem in reaction to the partition of Punjab -
Ajj Akhaan Waris Shah nu, sung soulfully
by both Inayat Hussain Bhatti and Zubeida Khanum.
Other songs that deserve a mention are the patriotic
song Ajj Mukk Gayee Ae Ghamaan Waali Shyam,
Tenu Saada Pehla Salaam sung with great feeling
and emotion by Bhatti and Salim Raza as the Muslim
refugees reach and salute their promised land
- Pakistan, the romantic Gori Gori Chaandni
di Thandi Thandi Chhaan ni sung by Zubeida
Khanum picturised on Umer Din and his lady love
in happier times in the village and Desaan
da Raja rendered by Naseem Begum as Umer
Din's abducted sister sadly remembers him and
her family.
What has not held up well at all in Kartar
Singh however is the acting and its story
telling techniques, even if the film still enjoys
a highly respected status in Pakistan as do the
performances of Allaudin, Sudhir and Zarif. The
Pakistani film industry was always behind ours
by lightyears as they had to literally start their
industry from a zero level in 1947. Hence though
Kartar Singh was made in 1959, its stagey
acting and tacky technique is more like our films
of the early 1940s and often cringeworthy. But
as mentioned earlier, music is an exception and
Pakistani films have always had a strong and unique
musical tradition in their films right from the
beginning, especially their Punjabi films.
The film, released on June 18, 1959 on the occasion
of Eid-ul-Azha was one of the biggest hits of
the year and has since acquired cult status in
Pakistan.
Image courtesy mazhar.dk
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