It has been a long time since I have watched a movie that touched me so much that as soon as I finished it I had to get a blog written. This movie was released on Netflix - Main Vaapus Aaunga this year and actually became famous because of one of the songs which I will link in this blog so I have wanted to watch this movie for awhile.
Today was the day that I actually pressed the play button and honestly I knew what to expect from an Imitaz Ali movie but for me this movie has just blown it out of the water. I thought this movie will be around love, relationships and the India/Pakistan Parition but oh boy was I wrong!! This movie was soo much more than that it made me feel things right to the pit of my stomach. My emotions were and still are all over the place. I had watched many movies about the India/Pakistan partition but none have touched me the way that this movie has.
I do not want to give away any spoilers away but I will discuss how this movie made me feel. It was more than love and relationships it was showing the pain that those who lived through that horrific time went through. The loss of losing their homes and their identities – well truly themselves. The heartbreak, the fear and the courage all at the same time. I knew that my grandparents had faced the partition they were born in what is now Pakistan but they were not able to share any stories with us due to be young and to be honest we never truly got the opportunity to ask. My Nan would say that her dad was heartbroken when he had to leave his home and cross that new border in to India. But I never truly understood that pain she always talked about until today when I watched this movie. My heart is broken for all those that had to leave there full lives because someone decided that it was the thing to do!
In the movie the main lead puts his point across by saying why should I leave? This is my home and who can dictate this that I need to move and leave. And honestly the way he said that hit the nail on the head to how people must feel when they are forced to leave. Imitaz Ali is an amazing storyteller and he captured the emotions of the people and the time so well it felt like you weren’t watching a movie but in fact were living it.
They mention the sacrifice that women went through, Diljit Dosanjh says in the movie I do want to think about because the truth is if any of us think about their sacrifice during this time it would just make us angry and frustrate us. Watching the scenes of what women endure doe to decisions that were made by male members of the their family who were thinking it was the best thing but actually it was the worst decisions made laving them behind. It made them more vulnerable to be attacked, to be less protected. The movie showed that in the face of adversity these women showed so much courage, courage that I would not be able to show if I was faced with such adversity. I salute those women who pick up the courage and show men what they are capable of. That when faced with a horrible situation they fight, they fight and keep on fighting till the end.
I do not even think that my writing can capture the emotion that this film has on me. I have so many emotions from it, anger, sadness, happiness and everything in between!!
This movie made me open my eyes to think about my grandparents and great grandparents who had to face this. They were forced to homelessness, change of identity and completely became different people due to the circumstance they were faced with. That they were living in harmony Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims and then a border, propaganda amongst so many other things broke down years of friendships and families. We are so against mixed faith marriages due to the way society has been programmed due to historical events but this movie showed that the people who lived it they did not care for others faiths. They just cared for each other as human beings, friends were friends regardless of religion. They fell in love with those who they wanted too knowing that there may be backlash but they fought. But borders were created and love was broken and ultimately identities were taken away.
To be honest I could write for days and days what this movie has done to me and the impact it has left on me. But to be honest all I can see is if you have not watched it then do watch it. For me this was more than a movie, it was showing history of what people faced and probably still do face. Imitiaz Ali this is my favourite film of yours and to be honest this will movie should go down in the record books for just making the viewer feel emotions!
