Batwara 1947 Review: Shabana Azmi is the film’s glowing star in this dry Partition drama

Film Batwara 1947Director Rajkumar SantoshiCast Sunny Deol Shabana Azmi Preity Zinta Karan Deol Kanikka KapurRating 25 starsA series of lsquowhat ifsrsquo went through my mind stepping out of Rajkumar Santoshirsquos Batwara 1947What if this was a totally indie arthouse type film Take Govind Nihalanirsquos gutwrenching series Tamas 1988 since this filmrsquos dedicated to Nihalani Santoshirsquos mentorOr Deepa Mehtarsquos Earth 1998 that starred Aamir Khan whorsquos produced Batwara Lemme not even bring up the GOAT MS Sathyursquos Garm Hava 1974What if Would Irsquove felt differently about it Maybe The setting is Lahore 1947 Barring the one family in it thatrsquos moved from Meerut during Partition the perspective is wholly localWhat if this was a Pakistani film instead with its own tone and touch of atonement Would I have been drawn to it furthermore PerhapsBatwara is based on a popularly performed play Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya O Jamya E Nai that I havenrsquot watched The play as the film hence is written by Asghar WajahatSo was Santoshirsquos equally chatty indoorsy yet fairly fine feature Gandhi Godse 2023 indulging in counterfactual history that strangely equated in stature an assassin to the MahatmaThis picture similarly you can tell is far too faithful to the original play Such that it doesnrsquot seem cinematic enough for the longest passagesAnd I donrsquot mean this for the lack of a lsquoSunny supersoundrsquo mdash just the fact of gasping for fresher air along with its noble thoughtsConsider the scene where a shayartype character Ali Fazal making a cameo recounts to a bunch of blokes the love of his life from Lahore The camera switches to a flashback for a romantic number that switches off within a few seconds almost midsentenceMaybe music helps in such matters We head over instead to the drudgerydullness within a home and neighbourhood that appear so much like cookiecutter sets for a period filmAt the core of Batwara really is a manrsquos love for anotherrsquos mother Likewise her love for anotherrsquos son Their religions notwithstanding You genuinely sense that loaded emotion for max 22 minutes in the movieI clocked it between 1202 and 1224 pm in a 10 am show Thatrsquos when you experience the grand dame habana Azmi in her element this filmrsquos warmly glowing starShabana plays a pious old Hindu woman somehow trapped in a haveli thatrsquos been assigned to a Muslim family from across the border as compensation by the newly formed stateMirza ie Sunny is himself an unnecessary mohajirmigrant mdash thrown away into a distant land dislodged from his own bearings and business back where he comes from mdash having to start life anew He along with his perennially pretty wife Preity Zinta lirsquol daughter and a son Karan Deol whorsquos been an eyewitness to Partitionrsquos extreme bloodshed obviously see the original Hindu houseowner as perhaps a snake in their backyardDo you see the transition of Sunnyrsquos character from someone grappling with his own trauma to falling into the lap of a mother he never had You hear it yes Do you feel it Not really And thatrsquos possibly the unfortunate essence of this dry pictureThis protagonist is all alone surrounded by his mohallarsquos thugs and goons led by a major rioter Abhimanyu Singh who discusses bodycount from his bloodsport This gangster obviously perceives Sunnyrsquos character as the villain for protecting a lady from another faithSunny takes him and others and pretty much the entire town all by himself The crowd parts as if they know hersquos the OG Sunny Paaji from Gadar after all People fly all over the place from his dhai kilo ka haathWhich seems rather unrealistic as action for a movie thatrsquos supposedly so realistic At the same time for the most part Sunny appears far too subdued to be that Deol dude in any caseEither way this confusion in the genre perhaps leaves both the movie starrsquos fans and the genuine film buffs somewhat unsatisfied This is surprising only because such a contradiction hardly ever held back the SunnySantoshi dramas Ghayal Ghatak Damini from their heydaysMake no mistake though Batwara is also a really important film for what itrsquos attempting to say even while being too literal I donrsquot particularly have a problem with polemic or a picture thatrsquos preachyThis one revisits Partition without being revisionist Yes the tragic division of India along religious lines was a political move But that landgrabbing took place equally on the streets The opportunists inevitably took overAnd maybe this madness never ends Neither does displacement Look at the world around you Or even Meerut in India where Mirzarsquos family in this film comes from mdash it experienced the same kinda killings even generations later Those rioters were different from the set in Lahore But they were still the sameSantoshiWajahat strongly argue for religious coexistence despite conditioning from faith that teaches hate to fanatics alone That all religions chiefly Islam in this case expects mutual respect and empathy And that politics mustnrsquot mix with religion regardlessThis is a counterpoint in the heat of civil war over batwara as it were You gotta honour the intentions sometimes These are also those times Thatrsquos quite separate from whether a film feels engaging enough though

Batwara 1947 Review: Shabana Azmi is the film’s glowing star in this dry Partition drama

Film: Batwara 1947
Director: Rajkumar Santoshi
Cast: Sunny Deol, Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta, Karan Deol, Kanikka Kapur
Rating: 2/5 stars

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Ganeshotsav 2026

Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / Batwara 1947 Review: Shabana Azmi is the film’s glowing star in this dry Partition drama

Batwara 1947 Review: Shabana Azmi is the film’s glowing star in this dry Partition drama

Film: Batwara 1947Director: Rajkumar SantoshiCast: Sunny Deol, Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta, Karan Deol, Kanikka KapurRating: 2/5 stars

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Ganeshotsav 2026

Film: Batwara 1947
Director: Rajkumar Santoshi
Cast: Sunny Deol, Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta, Karan Deol, Kanikka Kapur
Rating: 2/5 stars