Saw this while in Ottawa, it was a fantastic film!
Aamir khan was amazing! Didn’t think a major star would be willing to take on a role that could be negatively received.
Nice to see an Indian film not artificially stretched out to the mandatory 3 1/2 hrs.
Rest of the cast was good, and well directed film. Very good/even portrayal of the violence during partition - very unusual these days in an indian film.
agree with u Khurram...really is a very well done film...it was nice to see an unbiased view of the partition...i think it even won the best international movie award in the international film festival...not sure though...maybe someone could verify that...
I'm not a big fan of Hindi movies but I've heard a lot about this movie. The Times of India's Khalid Mohamed has given the film a good review (which is surprising since he's usually harsh on hindi movies).
I always get this feeling that I've wasted my money after watching a hindi movie, but I guess I'll risk my $7 this time.
Er... all the reviews i came across in Indian papers seem to say that the film isn't quite upto Deepa Mehta's standards, and is nowhere near "Fire". Accusations include lack of depth for the characters and anachronous dresses and hairstyles. I myself am yet to see the movie, though.
Well I guess she has to cater to the "commercial" audience as well. There's bound to be a few song and dance sequences, which in such a turbulent time in a nations history, do sound kinda weird. But I'm hoping it's better than the usual crap that we have to endure. By the way, how is the film doing in India ?
I heard it's doing good business in India and Middle East. It's doing good in Boston. Boston Press has given very good reviews for "Earth". Indian PM Vajapyee saw EARTH one day before the election results were to be declared.
MOVIE REVIEW
Earth' a harrowing look at bloody chapter in history
By JAY CARR c) 1999, The Boston Globe
Earth,'' the second installment of Deepa Mehta's film tetrology keyed to the four elements of antiquity, is a baleful and bloody reminder that the Hindu- Muslim antagonism newly ignited between India and Pakistan is not new. In this film set in 1947, the unity both sides had maintained against the British isn't long in crumbling with the end of colonialsm. Watching`Earth,'' as we do through the innocent eyes of an 8-year-old Parsee girl in Lahore, is like watching an impending train crash that she can't see, but that we know is unavoidable. Staining the earth red with blood would be an unforgivable exaggeration in many a film, but not this one.
Earth'' hurls its Holocaust at us in a series of justifiably horrific images. As soon as the first rumblings are to be felt on the eve of independence, the father of the girl named Lenny expresses the wish that their family will be spared.If the Swiss can do it, so can the Parsees,'' he says, relying on the insulating power of neutrality. But as the nonviolence of Gandhi crumbles almost as soon as the new borders were drawn between India and a divided Pakistan, the virtually powerless father is unprepared for the extent and viciousness of the carnage on both sides.
Any hope that Lahore will remain untouched literally goes up in flames after Muslims slaughter Hindus nearby and retaliation arrives in the form of a train pulling into Lahore station loaded with butchered Muslim corpses and body parts. The film's central image is that of Lenny mutilating her dolls after she had seen the same thing happen to a person the night before in the street. When her nanny tries to stitch a doll together, and can't, she breaks into tears, realizing, as Mehta intends us to, that the doll stands for the self-divided country.
Mehta's strategy is to have the upheaval affect us through its effects on the Parsee family. He's helped by Maia Sethna's involvingly sentient performance as young Lenny. Nandita Das is touching, too, as the nanny caught between rival suitors, each portrayed vividly, but not able to climb out from under the schematism of their ties to the rival factions. Earth'' has been called theGone with the Wind'' of India, but, unlike that film, the family in this one is swept off the screen by the scenes of hostility meant to provide context and background. Sadly, history has granted Earth'' its shattering climax. What, one wonders, will Mehta do withWater''?
EARTH
Written and directed by: Deepa Mehta (based on Bapsi Sidhwa's novel ``Cracking India :)< Starring: Aamir Khan, Nandita Das, Rahul Khanna, Maia Sethna< Running time: 104 minutes< Unrated
Wonder how similar writing styles do Bombaykid and queer have ! hmmmm....yeh i saw this movie recently and yeh accorrdng to indian standards it was really well directed and ofcourse you would always expect good productions from deepa mehta ....
Anachrony .. i dint see much of it .. for i think i dont pay much attention to hairstyles :)
Amir khan is bound to break shahrukhs long spell of being the lone superstar of 90's bollywood .
MR.
MahaRaja,
hmm! So BombayKid and i've got similar styles? Wonder if his handwriting is as bad as mine though. :)Aren't you a mod? Go ahead, check the IP addys out, Holmes.
BombayKid,
dunno how its doing out here coz me too no big movie fan, not a bit hit for sure...
I watched a video copy --really bad quality tape!!--from Pakistan of this film and so the quality of the images weren't very sharp but EVEN THOUGh I still very much enjoyed the film and felt it was excellent--and, for an Indian movie, very well balanced vis-a-vis Pakistan. Aamir Khan's acting, as per normal, was outstanding. The whole film was very good as well and even the song sequences were tastefully done and really more like background music. I will watch it again I think --hopefully on a better quality tape/cinema!
I dont think Aamir Khan's character is really a negative one; more like a realistic one: his sister is killed and her breasts cut off (thankfully not shown) by Hindu mob on the train to Pakistan and this turns a cosmopolitan Aamir Khan against the Hindus...
A great movie though I guess a little bit depressing too.
I for one have always felt that Aamir Khan is far far better an actor than Shah Rukh.
Asif,
Have to agree with you, Amir is a much better actor. But I think that some of the film choices he has made has hurt him, as well as the fact that he has not done much with the big name directors/producers (ie. Yash Chopra, or Sooraj Bartagiya?? -the Rajshri HAHK director, or the over-rated Subesh Ghai).
He is head & shoulders above the popular boy toy, no talent Salman Khan, who only seems to give good performences in Rajshri films.
THis looks to be Amir Khan's year, with Sarfarosh, Mann & 1947, all being excellent films (despite Sarfarosh being anti-Pakistan, and Mann being a poor remake of An Affair to Remember).
I did'nt think that Amir Khan's role was negative, but considering who image concious most Bollywood actors are, it was a pretty risky last scene for a major star.