Thursday, April 4, 2013

Pinjar (2003)...A 'Don't Miss' Movie!

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Chandra Prakash Dwivedi's movie, Pinjar !
I wanted to watch this movie, 'Pinjar' which means, skeleton,  for a long time and at last did it last Sunday.  I had heard/read a lot about it and it was worth watching this movie at a stretch at home without getting up and going inside! It was so engrossing that nobody dared disturb me!

Do you remember the famous Doordarshan serial, 'Chanakya'? The director and the actor who acted as Chanakya, Dr.Chandra Prakash Dwivedi has directed this movie. This is his debut movie.  The story, is based on a novel, written originally by the famous award winning Punjabi author Amrita Pritam, revolves around the Hindu, Muslim families during partition.

When the movie started from the year, '1946', I knew, it is going to be a very serious movie.  I hadn't read the complete review earlier.  The movie starts with Kulbhushan Karbanda (what a booming voice he has got!), a rich Hindu man  in Amritsar, who is planning to fix his daughter, Paro's marriage and goes to his village in Western Amritsar with his family. 'Rangeela' fame, Urmila Matondkar, is the daughter...she looks beautiful and has acted quite well in this movie! I had admired her in 'Banaras' also. The partition disturbance had started just then.  But the family is happy.  His one son, Trilok (Priyanshu Chatterjee),  was involved in Congress activities.  He stays back and promises to join the wedding activities later.  At the village, the wedding is fixed  with a local rich man, Alok Nath's son, Ramachandra (Sanjay Suri) and he insists on 'give & take' marriage, i.e. he had a daughter whom he wanted to marry to Kulbushan's son and his son would marry Kulbhooshan's daughter!  It was agreed. A grand Punjabi wedding song is shown here! Punjabi songs are colourful and have got good rhythm, so they become famous easily!

The actual story starts now.  Paro has got a sister and both the girls roam in the fields and suddenly a man on a horse chases her and abducts her.  He is a muslim, Rashid is his name and his family had an  old revenge with Kulbhushan's family.  This man is the hero of the movie and Manoj Bajpai has acted very well in this role. Very controlled acting.  He keeps her in an old village house, which looks very primitive. She keeps on crying and after some days, she runs away and goes to her father's place and to her horror, her father refuses to take her in, since she is tainted now and tells her that her sister also will not get a groom if people come to know about her.  She returns and finds Manoj Bajpai waiting for her on the way.  They show him repenting for his act and starts loving her.

Kulbhooshan discusses the truth with Alok nath and Alok nath agrees to marry nephew to Kulbhooshan's second daughter, since Alok's son, Ramchandra, refuses to marry the sister. He had seen Paro once and so he refuses to marry her sister.  Ramachandra's sister is married to Alok nath's son, who reluctantly agrees but stays aloof because of the grief of losing his sister and not finding her.

Paro reluctantly settles down with the muslim family  and then the India-Pakistan partition problem starts.  Kulbhooshan's (his screen name Mohanlal has not registered in my mind!) family whose village is in Pakistan, starts their return journey to India.  Like we know, they go through lots of problems.  Women are abducted and raped by muslims and as per the story, Alok Nath's daughter, Kulbhooshan's daughter in law, who came home for delivery, is abducted and raped by many people.  Kulbhooshan's son, Kirti who came for the wedding starts looking for Paro and comes to know about Rashid and sets his field in fire.  Rashid objects his family who wanted to attack Kulbhooshan's family for this, saying that any brother would do this for the people who hurt his sister.  They show Paro still thinking of her home and Ramchandra...but slowly softening towards Rashid.

Now, the story goes a bit 'filmy' way.  Still, the movie was captivating for a long time.  The songs are good, though one song where Sanjay Suri sings, sitting under a tree, during partition procession is a bit irritating, knowing the situation! Dwivedi should have avoided this or it should have been in the background!

Watch some songs from this movie now:





The above song sounds clearer here, in raaga.com.   but no video! This song is originally from Jagjith Singh's album, 'Marasim'.  Gulzar is the lyricist.  He is the lyricist for all the lovely songs in this movie. Read what he says about Jagjith Singh here.  His voice suits the situation very well.  A great singer, but now, he is no more.




This song is sung by another famous singer, Roop Kumar Rathod and the music director of this movie, Uttam Singh .  He did the music for the famous 'Dil to paagal hai'.  Sounds very patriotic.

Well...this is a 'different' type of movie and you can watch it without getting bored.  Good acting by all of them is a plus point!

This film won the award for 'Best feature film' on National Integration, 'Best Art direction' award for Munish Sappal and 'Best actor' award for Manoj Bajpai.

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Picture Courtesy: Wikipedia

26 comments :

Anonymous said...

I never watched the movie thinking it would be a very sad movie... and I am a sucker for happy endings !

now that you recommend it so much... maybe I should watch it !

Sandhya said...

HITCHWRITER: No, this is not a sad movie, Dhiren! This movie deserves the best 'national integration' movie award. Rashid is a good hearted muslim character! And 'Bangra' is there for you!

SG said...

Thanks for the nice review. Will remember to look it up.

வை.கோபாலகிருஷ்ணன் said...

VERY INTERESTING !

வை.கோபாலகிருஷ்ணன் said...

அன்புள்ள MADAM, வணக்கம்.

தாங்கள் என் “பொக்கிஷம்” பதிவின் பகுதி-1 + பகுதி-6 க்கு வருகை தந்து கருத்துச்சொல்லியுள்ளது மிகவும் மகிழ்ச்சியாக உள்ளது. நன்றி.

நடுவில் விட்டுப்போய் உள்ள பகுதி-2 பகுதி-3 பகுதி-4 பகுதி-5 ஆகிய 4 பகுதிகளுக்கும், பொக்கிஷமாய் நான் கருதும் உங்கள் கருத்துக்களை மிகவும் ஆவலாக எதிர்பார்க்கிறேன்.

இணைப்புகள் இதோ:

http://gopu1949.blogspot.in/2013/03/5.html

http://gopu1949.blogspot.in/2013/03/4.html

http://gopu1949.blogspot.in/2013/03/3.html

http://gopu1949.blogspot.in/2013/03/2.html

நேரம் கிடைக்கும் போது கட்டாயம் வாங்கோ. ஏதாவது கருத்துச் சொல்லுங்கோ.

அதுவே எனக்கு ஓர் மிகப்பெரிய பொக்கிஷமாக நான் நினைக்கிறேன்.

அன்புடன்
வை.கோபாலகிருஷ்ணன்

Rama Ananth said...

I have also seen this movie many years ago. It was a nice gripping movie.
Good to know you finally got to see it.

Destination Infinity said...

I did not watch this movie, but the story seems typical Bollywoodish (of those times). I saw another movie set in the backdrop of Partition - Gadhar. This was also an entertaining and blood-boiling type of filmy movie!!

These days I watch only English films, that too selectively. I am fed up of the kind of movies that are made in the Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movie industry. Except some comedy movies, I am not able to see anything else!

Destination Infinity

Usha Pisharody said...

Like Hitchy, I too gave this one a miss thinking it would be violent, sad and all... will try and get a copy of it now. Sounds interesting, esp. the filmy ending... :)

Sandhya said...

SG: Thank you, SG!


VAI GOPALAKRISHNAN: Thank you, Gopalakrishnan Sir! Will come and read the other posts!


RAMA: I had read some people who watch only good movies, quoting this one. At last I made it!


DESTINATION INFINITY: Unlike some movies like 'Parzania', this one is an easy-going movie!

I read good reviews about some Tamil movies - small budget movies. Planning to watch them sometime. My husband likes ONLY comedy movies! I can't tolerate Santhanam's comedy! My son makes me watch some very good English movies. So, it is difficult to watch 'normal' movies for me now!

By the way, did you hear the Jagjit song in Pinjar? It is good.


USHA PISHARODY: This is not a violent or sad movie...we can watch it without tension. Urmila and Arjun Rampal have done well in their roles! Yes, the filmy ending makes it very light! You will enjoy, like I did!



Rahul Bhatia said...

A nice review! Have not seen as yet!!

S. Susan Deborah said...

This film, I think, was shown on some channels some time ago - Sony or SetMax, I don't remember. I just watched a scene somewhere in the middle and then didn't continue because I like to watch films from the beginning.

Excellent review and I should watch it some time.

Joy always,
Susan

Bhagyashree said...

I have seen the movie a couple of times on TV but always missed the ending. You too have not told that, please, please do tell what happens in the end

Sandhya said...

RAHUL BHATIA: It is not a sad movie, Rahulji. You might like it!


SUSAN DEBORAH; I am sure you will like this movie, Susan! Everybody acted well which is a big plus point.


BHAGYASHREE: If I write the ending of the story, my son would start shouting and ask me to declare 'spoiler alert' in the beginning of the review! I have already given a hint, Bhagyashree, in the review!


BK Chowla, said...

It is a beautiful movie.I am not sure if it a true story.
But,anyone from North,especially Punjab will relate to the story.
Its an awsome movie..so real

Sandhya said...

BK CHOWLA: Yes, the story is based on real incidents...they say so in the beginning of the movie. And all of us know that these things happened in those days.

Yes, it was a good movie, Chowlaji! Rampal and Matondkar are both good actors...well... with good directors!

radha said...

That was a detailed review. I remember seeing Garam Hawa so many many years ago on the partition issue. Balraj Sahni and cast did an excellent job.

Not sure if I want to watch a serious movie with this theme. I prefer light hearted comedies now even if they are slapstick. You can watch parts of it over a period of time and not miss anything !!

Sandhya said...

RADHA: This movie is not that serious like Parzania or Mumbai Meri jaan etc. Not much violence is shown here. So, I didn't get very tensed up! The ending also is somewhat filmy. Still, everybody acted well and some story was there. So, I liked this movie.

My husband likes to watch movies like you said. If it is not too silly, I also join him! I shudder to watch very serious English Movies. They are so real that my heart starts palpitating! My son will start teasing!

Renu said...

it is such a beautiful movie and I felt that Urmila deserved an award, do you rememebr the scene where she goes selling blankets..with betel leaves in her mouth and kajal and all how real she looks..

Zephyr said...

I have seen the movie and loved it though as Rajesh has pointed out, it was a little Bollywoodish. The acting was what did it for me. Bajpai and Urmila were exceptional.

Sandhya said...

RENU: Yes, I remember the scene. She is undoubtedly a good actress. I remember her acting in Banaras, too.


ZEPHYR: I have written in the review that the end is filmy and some songs were unnecessary, otherwise the movie was good. Everyone acted well in that movie. But because it was a little bollywoodish, tension was not there while watching the movie unlike some other movies on the same subject!

Malini said...

Long time Maradhi Manni! Was on a vacation! I haven't watched this movie yet. Will do soon. And yeah, there's again the Jagjit Singh connection!

Sandhya said...

MALINI: Welcome, Malini!

Good to know that you were on a vacation! Must have come back rejuvenated! Waiting for posts on the places you visited!

Yes, Jagjit Singh connection, happened!

ra said...

i have the dvd of this movie but never watched it but after reading this review it seems like worth a watch!

Sandhya said...

RAHUL AGGARWAL: Even I thought that it would be full of gory details of the partition. I have already watched some movies based on the theme. But this one is not a strong movie. Good at many places and filmy at some places! That's it! You can watch!

Sai Charan said...

The movie left such an impression on you, can notice that in your review, sounds interesting I'll watch it sometime!!

I laughed when I read this line, "It was so engrossing that nobody dared disturb me!", OMG! if I had disturbed you, I would've got a beating ha ha... :)

Cheers,
Charan :)

Sandhya said...

SAI CHARAN: Haha...may be!

Watch it when you are free. It is not a very serious movie, Sai!

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