Film based on short stories by Manto revisits the intricacies of the Partition of India and Pakistan and powerfully examines the human capacity for untold violence
“Memories Beyond Borders” was the theme of this year’s London Asian Film Festival. A timely subject, considering the divisive times we are living in. Besides this being the year of Brexit and of the erection of physical and metaphorical walls, this is also the year in which India celebrates 70 years of independence – an event that cannot but bring about memories of the Partition between India and Pakistan. Rahat Kazmi’s Mantostaan (2016), presented at the festival, brings its viewers back to the days when the border between the two countries was created and focuses on the chaos that ensued.
Seventy years have passed, but the theme of Partition is still a very difficult one to handle. The violence that accompanied the creation of the two independent states, and which led to the death of almost 2 million people and to the displacement of 15 million people, made Partition, in the words of literary scholar Vijay Mishra, “a symbol so enormous, so vast and obscene” that it seemed impossible to face up to. As a consequence, the dominant political discourse in India in the wake of independence actively displaced the horrors of Partition in favour of a historiography that foregrounded the non-violent ethos of the independent movement and the idea of inter-communal harmony suggested by the “unity in diversity” slogan of the Congress. (It is only in October last year that the first museum and memorial dedicated to Partition was opened, in Amritsar.)
Yet the memory of Partition has never really left the subconscious of the two countries and the film Mantostaan, which is based on four short stories by the Urdu writer Manto – Khol Do, Thanda Gosht, Assignment and Aakhri Salute – powerfully retrieves the memory of the events which occurred at the time. Fiercely opposed to the creation of Pakistan, Manto, who eventually moved to Lahore, captured in his stories the ordinary folly of Partition days. Instead of focusing on the political actors who determined the faith of the two countries, the writer focused his attention on ordinary people whose lives were irremediably affected by their decisions and their reactions to the unfolding of events.
Director Rahat Kazmi, a strong admirer of Manto himself, has faithfully adapted these stories for the screen. Rather than being divided into separate chapters, the four tales are interwoven into a single narrative that, creating a sense of synchronicity, turns the film into a sort of chronicle of Partition days. We find the story of Sirajuddin and Sakina, father and daughter, who desperately flee Amritsar during the riots that resulted in the death of Sakina’s mother. There are lovers, Ishar Singh and Kulwant Kaur, who meet at an isolated place away from the riots, of which, it turns out, Ishar is an active participant. There is judge Mian Abdul Hai, who refuses to leave his Amritsar home as he is confident that his friends would never turn on him, fatally condemning his family to death. Finally, there are the two childhood friends, Rab Nawaz (played by Kazmi himself) and Ram Singh, facing themselves as enemies in Kashmir – one with the Pakistani army, and the other with the Indian one. Feelings of fear, desperation, disbelief and regret pervade the film.
Mantostaan perfectly renders the degree of violence that broke out during those terrible days in the subcontinent, while at the same time capturing the dismay of people unable to believe the rapidity with which former neighbours and friends had turned into enemies – indeed, unable to understand how they themselves had suddenly turned into cold-blooded murderers and rapists. The paradox of the fratricidal violence is superbly captured in Aakhri Salute, where the two friends, now head-to-head as rivals, keep teasing each other as if still playing a game. That is, until tragedy strikes.
While Mantostaan, just like Manto’s stories, does not offer a moral judgement on Partition, it nevertheless invites a reflection on society. The topic of Partition provides a platform for a more universal reflection on the human condition: what are men (and women) capable of in exceptional circumstances? The frenzy and the ferocity with which people act does not bear any religious connotation. Paradoxically, it is the one thing that Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims share. Everyone is a victim, but, at the same time, it is impossible to single out perpetrators along the lines of religion, a point emphasised in Khol Do when Sakina is raped by “her people”. “Man is a strange creature,” says a dying Ishar before confessing his crimes to Kulwant. To confirm the film’s invitation to reflect on the human condition, the following words from Manto appear on screen as the film closes:
“If you can’t bear these stories, then the society is unbearable. Who am I to remove the clothes of this society, which itself is naked. I don’t even try to cover it, because it is not my job, that’s the job of dressmakers.”
Photo Credit: Mantostaan