Pinjar
Film poster
Directed by	Chandra Prakash Dwivedi
Written by	Chandra Prakash Dwivedi Amrita Pritam
Starring	Urmila Matondkar Manoj Bajpai
Music by	Uttam Singh
Cinematography	Santosh Thundiyil
Editing by	Ballu Saluja
Country	India/Pakistan
Language	Hindi/Urdu

Pinjar (Hindi: पिंजर, Urdu: پنجر) is a 2003 film about Hindu-Muslim problems during the time around the partition of India. The film is based on a Punjabi novel by the same, written by Amrita Pritam ^[1]. Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpai and Sanjay Suri are in the lead roles.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Awards 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot

Pinjar tells the story of Puro, a young woman of Hindu background, finding herself living a lovely life - in a period circling the time of the Partition of 1947 - with her family. All is well for Puro, who finds herself betrothed to a wealthy, sweet young man, Ramchand, from a promising family akin to her own background. Her family lives in Amritsar but journeys to their ancestral village of Chattovani to search for prospective grooms. They finally engage Puro to Ramchand from Rattoval, a village near Chattovani. Although her life seems to be well-charted, Puro's bliss is shattered one day as a leisurely trip in the fields beyond her home with Rajjo (her younger sister) turns traumatic as she is kidnapped by a mysterious muslim man, who turns out to be Rashid.

Rashid's family has an ancestral family dispute with Puro's family. Puro's family had made Rashid's family homeless by taking over their property over a loan default. Also, Puro's grand-uncle had kidnapped Rashid's grand-aunt, kept her in his house for 3 nights and then released her onto the streets after defiling her. Rashid's joint family makes him swear on the holy Quran that he will kidnap Puro before her wedding to settle the score and restore their honour.

Throughout the film it is clear that Rashid is very attracted to Puro and would do anything for her. It can also be perceived that he did not want to kidnap Puro, but was forced to do so for the honor of his family. One late evening while Rashid is asleep, Puro manages to steal the keys from under his pillow, unlocks the main door and runs back to her parents. However in an extremely emotional scene, her parents woefully turn away their daughter, explaining that if Puro were to stay, Rashid's extended muslim clan would arrive at the minority hindus house and slaughter everyone. Left with no support at home (Puro's brother Trilok is unfortunately away from home at that time), Puro returns to Rashid who is well-aware of Puro's escape & confident that she'll not be let in by her parents and waiting for her nearby.

Some months following Puro's kidnapping, Puro's family marries their son Trilok to Ramchand's (Puro's fiance) younger sister, Lajjo, and the entire family moves back to Amritsar. Lajjo wishes very much for Trilok to give her the attention she so animately bestows upon him. However, Trilok, having turned cold ever since his sister's capture, cannot find himself get attached to Lajjo. Meanwhile, Rajjo is married off to Lajjo's (and Ramchand's) cousin and lives in Rattoval.

Parallel to the celebrations of the new marriage, is a celebration of Rashid: Puro is pregnant. While Rashid and his aunts rejoice, Puro is greatly depressed as she has conceived from rape, she ultimately miscarries the child. After the miscarriage, however, Puro learns somewhat of Rashid's love for her and his repentance for his evil deed. One day Puro journeys to Rattowal (Ramchand's village) with an aunt and goes searching for Ramchand's fields. She weeps in despair when she comes across Ramchand, he realises that it might be Puro but doesnt stop her as she flees away, since he has no authority to stop her.

Meanwhile, the British colonialists leave India and the subcontinent reels under the effects of Partition. Puro's family are safe in Amritsar which falls in India. Ramchand's father refuses to leave Rattoval which now lies in the newly created Pakistan. But Ramchand's uncle, cousin and Rajjo leave for India and are hence safe. Ramchand, his parents and Lajjo (Trilok had recently visited from Amritsar and dropped her at her brother's house) are caught in the riots. Ramchand hurriedly leaves on the long journey to India along with his younger sister and mother, his father is already missing in the riots. They are part of a large group of hindu and sikh refugees on the way to India, guarded by an Pakistani army regiment. However, large groups of thugs keep attacking refugee camps and kidnapping girls. Lajjo is kidnapped during one such attack.

Puro & Rasheed meanwhile live in Sakkadali village. She rescues a kidnapped & repeatedly gangraped Hindu refugee girl from the sugarcane fields and promises to hand her over to the Indian army. Puro comes to know that a large group of Hindu refugees from Rattoval is on way to India and that they have camped near Sakkadali for the night. There she meets Ramchand who woefully tells her of Lajjo's situation. Puro requests Ramchand to help the rape victim find her family back in India, and also promises to locate Lajjo. Puro begs Rashid to help her find Lajjo and rescue her, he says it is very dangerous but she reminds him of how brazenly he kidnapped her in the past.

Roaming in Rattoval village from home to home under the alias of a saleswoman, Puro finally finds Lajjo, and helps her escape with Rashid's assistance. They conduct Lajjo to Lahore where Trilok and Ramchand come to receive her at the Wagah refugee victims/missing persons exchange camp.

Lajjo is welcomed lovingly by Ramchand, Trilok is also there in the camp and has a tearful reunion with Puro and explains to her that she can start life anew as Ramchand is ready to accept her even now. However Puro surprises Trilok by refusing. She is caught between two worlds, she says that she is content that Lajjo is returned, and that her life is beyond repair, she is where she belongs and cannot bear further upheavals.

And so in an ironic twist of fate, Puro seeks Rashid out in the camp and the two bid Ramchad, Trilok, and Lajjo farewell, forever.

[edit] Cast

• Puro (later, Hamida): Urmila Matondkar
• Rashid: Manoj Bajpai
• Ramchand: Sanjay Suri
• Lajo: Sandali Sinha
• Trilok: Priyanshu Chatterjee
• Rajjo: Isha Koppikar
• Tara (Puro's Mother): Lilette Dubey
• Mohanlal (Puro's Father): Kulbhushan Kharbanda
• Shyamlal (Ramchand's Father): Alok Nath
• Ramchand's Mother: Farida Jalal
• Pagali: Seema Biswas
• Rahim's Aunt: Dina Pathak
• Rahim's Mother: Sudha Shivpuri
• Rahim's wife: Parveena Bano
• Hukamchand: Pradeep Kukreja
• Hukamchand's Wife: Salima Raza
• Managing Director: Ghulam Arif

[edit] Awards

• 2004: Filmfare Best Art Direction Award:Munish Sappal

Won 8 awards of 9 for which it was nominated. Manoj Bajpai won National award for his role.

[edit] References

1. ^ Always Amrita, Always Pritam Gulzar Singh Sandhu on the Grand Dame of Punjabi letters, The Tribune, November 5, 2005.

[edit] External links

• Pinjar at the Internet Movie Database