Earth, 1947: On Parakeets and Aamir Khan’s Dil Navaz

Like Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Earth, 1947, is a film I have liked more and more as I reflect upon its characters and themes. One of the most exhilarating parts of the movie for me was watching Aamir Khan’s character Dil Navaz transition from playful wooer to cold-blooded killer. One scene in particular stands out to me for its subtle characterization of Navaz, as well as its symbolism in the context of the rest of the movie: that where Navaz (with the help of Lenny and Shanta) swindles a couple of British tennis-playing ladies out of 3 rupees for threatening to kill a cage full of parakeets until they pay to let them free.

The scene itself is fairly unimportant to the development of the movie’s plot; it simply gives us a little more screen time with which to forge a closer bond with the cunning Navaz. However, the symbolism and foreshadowing of the scene are blatant: the birds in the cage represent India under the Raj (accented by their green and orange colors – those of the Indian flag), which are only freed when allowed by the British ladies, who represent the English as a whole. I find additional meaning in the manner in which the birds scatter after Navaz rustles them from the cage—much in the way the various Indian groups (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs) diverge after gaining independence.

This scene is additionally important for it’s further characterization of Navaz. Here we learn that he always carries a razor blade, and is swift in arming himself when ready to threaten to slit the birds’ throats. Furthermore, his violent acting is convincing enough to urge the tennis players to hand over the necessary money to free the birds, thereby also convincing the audience that he is fully capable of the violence he later (likely) commits in the murder of Hassan, Shanta’s lover.

Though Navaz cheerily bids Shanta and Lenny farewell at the conclusion of this scene, his actions contribute to the steady escalation of violence we see in Kahn’s character. In his first scene with Lenny and Shanta, he jokingly threatens to throw Lenny headfirst into the ground unless Shanta comes to his house that evening. Later, when masquerading as a faqir purporting to have a telephone line to Allah, he prophesizes to an enquiring crowd, “Allah says, ‘When the time for division comes, there is going to be a huge storm, and you will all fight like animals.’” Finally, in the scene where Lenny, Shanta, Navaz, and Hassan are watching the fighting and arson in the streets from a rooftop, the group witnesses a group of firefighters spray a lit building with gasoline instead of water. At this, Navaz exclaims, “Great! The firefighters must be Muslim!” to which Shanta throws him a stern glare. By his final scene, we are entirely ready to believe that the man who flew kites, composed poetry, and pushed Lenny on his bicycle could also deceive, kidnap, and murder.

I believe that Aamir Khan’s performance as Navaz in Earth is his best I have yet witnessed. Whereas his characters in 3 Idiots, p.k., and Lagaan are complex, but overwhelmingly well-intentioned, his portrayal of the Ice-Candy man is not only complex, but nuanced. We at first love Navaz, empathize with him, and even root for him to win Shanta’s heart, which is why his betrayal and evil actions in the end of the film weigh on us so heavily. In the end, the trials and travails of Dil Navaz are a microcosm of what the whole of India is experiencing, and his pains and crimes allow us to better understand the horrors and sorrows of such a tumultuous time in Indian history.