Partition has given Hindi cinema some of its most powerful stories, from the quiet devastation of Pinjar to the rawness of Earth. Batwara 1947, inspired by Asghar Wajahat’s play Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya O Jamyai Nai, has similarly compelling material. Unfortunately, somewhere between the political drama, communal conflict and Sunny Deol’s trademark action, the film struggles to decide what it wants to be.

The story follows Sikandar Mirza (Sunny Deol), who leaves Meerut with his family during Partition and reaches Lahore. Along with his wife Hamida (Preity Zinta), son Javed (Karan Deol) and daughter Tanno (Khushi Hajare), he is allotted a sprawling house. There is just one problem - an elderly Hindu woman, Mai/Durga (Shabana Azmi), is already living there.