Differences

You guys wanna know what I had to do today? I had to accompany my sister to her colleague's wedding. Why? Because she needed an extra pair of hands to take pictures. Geez. But not only that, mum wants me to keep an eye on her, just like I do every day when we go to work and come home together. We're going to look like a married couple if we keep this up. Sigh. And being at weddings like this, it's boring, especially if neither the bride nor the groom is a friend of yours. But I got a free meal when I was there, so it wasn't so bad.

Last night, I watched a film called Partition, which is a love story set in India in 1947, just after their independence was achieved. It's a volatile time, when Hindus and Muslims hated each other, up to the point where they would kill one another. The film tells the story of Gian (Jimi Mistry), a Sikh man who had just come home from serving the British as a soldier, trying to forget the nightmares of war and leading a peaceful life at his farm. One day, he rescues a young Muslim girl, Naseem (Kristin Kreuk) from people who wanted to kill her because of her religion.

He tries to hide her in his house, but soon his friends and neighbours learn about her and want to harm her. He protects her with his life, and soon she learns to fit in and eventually win over everyone's hearts. Gian and Naseem then fall in love, marry and have a child of their own. But she misses her own family, from which she was separated when they were attacked by Hindus while on their way to Pakistan. She finds a way to go there and reunite with them, but when Naseem's family learn that she has married a Sikh, they keep her captive. Gian then makes his way to Pakistan to get her back. But it doesn't end well, despite their undying love for each other.

Normally I wouldn't watch a love story, but I wanted to see Kristin Kreuk in a different light. Everyone knows her as Lana Lang from Smallville, but seeing her as a Muslim girl? Well, she did great. Her acting is definitely better here, though some purists will say that she doesn't look like an Indian at all. The acting in general was quite good, and the subject matter fascinating. It's disconcerting to see how the world was like back then, when differences in religion would make people hate and kill each other. At the end of the day, we're all God's children, and no matter who we are inside, or what religion we believe in, we should all learn to accept each other's differences and live peacefully together.

On a personal standpoint, I think the film should have been made into a miniseries, in order to allow more time for things to develop. The 2 hour time frame just wasn't enough. But it is a good movie, made by Canadians no less. I think the world today is more or less like the world in this film, and that's quite tragic, just like the film itself.

Just thought I should tell you about this film without putting it on FF. Have a good week ahead.