Yes, it’s long. And it’s slow. And yes, it could have been sharper and snappier, so it feels a little self-indulgent. Some side stories come out of nowhere and disappear anyway. They are abrupt and choppy. Other roads could have been shortened or cut without much damage. In fact, the absence could have added value. However, other plots seemed overwritten and some were difficult to understand. Also, the first half starts singing too often. However, the second half, especially the last hour, ties you to your seat and keeps you there until the last of the end credits roll.
This is intertwined with a philosophy about love: a deep insight into passion, whether for work, a person, or a hobby.
Home Vaapas AaungaOld world romance simmers. The pacing could have been good if it hadn’t lasted the entire first half and then some. Other than that, you start to see glimpses of what the creators are trying to achieve. It’s more than just a love story. It’s more than just a regular old romance set during the India-Pakistan partition. It’s an allegory. Of every displacement in modern global history and continuing to this day. That was the hook for me in the interval. Are you going to do anything else with it? Or is it just a fleeting metaphor?
In the end I didn’t stay with any of those questions. I won’t say which path he took at the risk of revealing more plot. But their intention was clear and they expressed it beautifully.
Take this into account. An entire community decided not to look back on their experiences. Collectively suppressed combined and individual trauma to maintain peace. This is so starkly underlined as a scene of sacrifice and helplessness that will stay with every viewer forever. Because? Because the generation that did not actually suffer will simply use the brutality suffered during partition to spread hatred. This hits a nerve. The decisions about the partition were made by people who had nothing to do with the game. This notion uses a brilliant metaphor. This is thought-provoking and heartbreaking.
And all of this is done without melodrama or glamor on either side. That balance is delicately maintained. Another spark in the writing manifests itself in the skillful use of nonlinearity. This is intertwined with a philosophy about love: a deep insight into passion, whether for work, a person, or a hobby.
The performances take the writing to a higher level. Naseeruddin Shah’s description of the onset of dementia is as mind-blowing as the writing that intertwines the illness with reality. Diljit Dosanjh has a calming presence throughout. Vedang Raina and Sharvari are young and serious, just like their characters.
Considering everything the measure has going for it, it shows that it is well made. It’s a shame then that it feels unreasonably stretched with a slow first half. 🙁
– Meeta, a part of the audience.
