Earth 1947 - Aishwarya Vardhana

I am still processing the magnitude of Earth 1947, a Bollywood movie about the Partition of Bharata in 1947. There were so many forces at play in the movie: religious, sexual, cultural, patriarchal, and political. Through the eyes of a child the story unfurled beautifully. Watching this movie was an emotion full experience and by the end I was teeming with what I can only describe as ‘rage’. Indeed I knew the Partition of Bharata in 1947 was "bloody" and "violent" but this movie presented more than the historical facts. It showed me the pain undergone by the average persons living in Lahore. It stripped history of all its lofty politics and dispassionate statistics and exposed the Indians’ pain during this time. I was particularly interested in the dynamic between men and women throughout the film. Injustice and oppression most severely impact those most marginalized in society thus in Lahore we see women, specifically poor women, suffering greatly during hard and fearful times. The patriarchal framework of Indian society affects all women; we see Lenny’s mother tending to her father’s feet, Papoo being married off at age ten, Lenny’s father telling her she will not be married off until she is sixteen, Shanta covering her chest with her shawl after feeling the male gaze, Dil Nawaz’s clear sense of entitlement over Shanta, the mutilation of the Muslim women on the train, the description of the raped women as “fallen”, and the ending scene in which independent, intelligent and strong Shanta, who initially is the center of the friend group and the light to which the others flock, is dragged away by a crowd of men.

Each scene that I have listed indicates the recurring theme of patriarchy and how the suffering of women during the Partition was heightened by the patriarchy. The first jarring moment is when Lenny’s mother is blowing air on her husband’s feet. Her mouth is positioned so close to his feet that one immediately associates this action as her essentially kissing her husband’s feet. We also see Lenny walk in and watch her mother performing this rite which indicates towards the perpetuation of submissive mentality, as Lenny watches she learns from her mother that she too must serve a man someday. The patriarchal effect of the Partition on Lenny’s mother, however, is minimal compared to its effect on Shanta and other poor women. The train carrying Dil Nawaz’s sisters demonstrates the violence poor women faced. The Muslim men on the train were killed whereas the Muslim women were mutilated and tortured. I believe the notion of collecting a bag of womens’ breasts symbolizes the utter disregard for female lives and the deep rooted male desire for power over female bodies. The women who arrive in Lahore after having been raped are described as “fallen”, a notion which Lenny as a young girl seems to internalize quickly. Throughout the film we see Dil Nawaz trying to assert his power over Shanta, feeling that he is entitled to her love and sexual interest. In one scene he tries to pull up her skirt, in another he attempts to buy her affection with a gold coin which Shanta rejects. This demonstrates Shanta’s assertion of her own being, she will not allow herself to feel guilty or bashful over Dil Nawaz’s unwanted advances. Shanta believes in her right to choose and she chooses Hassan who treats her with respect and tenderness. Throughout the film we see Shanta as a beacon of light and calm amid hate, ignorance and violence; at one point Dil Nawaz tells her she “controls the animal” within him (yet another example of him using guilt to acquire her). However despite her individual strength we ultimately see her downfall as well, as she is dragged away by the mob of men. The movie thus leaves the viewer with the sentiment that the individual cannot overcome the system and all who attempt to fight are eventually destroyed.