Pinjar (film)

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Pinjar
Film poster
Directed by	Chandra Prakash Dwivedi
Written by	Chandra Prakash Dwivedi Amrita Pritam
Starring	Urmila Matondkar Manoj Bajpai
Music by	Uttam Singh
Cinematography	Santosh Thundiyil
Editing by	Ballu Saluja
Country	India/Pakistan
Language	Hindi/Urdu
IMDb profile

Pinjar (Hindi: पिंजर, Urdu: پنجر) is a 2003 film about Hindu-Muslim problems during the time around the partition of India. The film is based on a Punjabi novel written by Amrita Pritam. Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpai and Sanjay Suri are in the lead roles.

[edit] Plot

Pinjar tells the story of Puro, a young woman of Hindu background, finding herself living a lovely life - in a period circling the time of the Partition of 1947 - with her family. All is well for Puro, who finds herself betrothed to a wealthy, sweet young man, Ramchand, from a promising family akin to her own background.Although her life seems to be well-charted, Puro's bliss is shattered one day as a leisurely trip in the fields beyond her home with Rajjo turns traumatic as she is kidnapped by a mysterious man, who turns out to be Rashid, a man of Muslim descent.

Rashid's family was once scorned by Puro's when in a few generations before theirs', a Great-some-Uncle of Puro's kidnapped a Great-some-Aunt of Rashid's. Now, vengeance has been proclaimed by Rashid's Uncles, and have finally triumphed by successfully capturing Puro.

Throughout the film it is clear that Rashid is very attracted to Puro and would do anything for her. It can also be perceived that he did not want to kidnap Puro, but was forced to do so for the honor of his family. One late evening while Rashid is out, Puro manages to break free the lock that entraps her in Rashid's home, and runs back to her parents. However in an extremely emotional scene, her parents woefully turn away their daughter, explaining that if Puro were to stay, Rashid's family would slaughter their own.Left with no support at home(Puro's brother Trilok is unfortunately away from home at that time) , Puro returns to Rashid(who has already explained 15 days after the kidnapping that her family would in no way accept her then) who is well-aware of Puro's escape.

Some months following Puro's kidnapping, Puro's family forces themselves to move on and now marries their son Trilok to Puro's ex-fiance's sister, Lajjo. Lajjo wishes very much for Trilok to give her the attention she so animately bestows upon him.However,Trilok,having turned cold ever since his sister's capture, cannot find himself get attached to Lajjo. Parallel to the celebrations of the new marriage, is a celebration of Rashid:Puro is pregnant.While Rashid and his aunts rejoice, Puro finds herself horribly depressed, and purposely strains herself in household work in order to miscarry. After the miscarriage however, Puro learns somewhat of Rashid's love for her. One day Puro walks dangerously close to the fields(tht belong to Ramchand,her supposed-to-be husband) where she herself was kidnapped, and gets to see him just last time.But Ramchand is so much surprised to see her semi-naked face that by the time he starts realising it is Puro,she clears off leaving him in doubt.It may be perceived that she does so after getting disappointed to find Ramchand not quite recognising her.

Chaos ensues again for Puro's family as warfare occurs between the Hindus and Muslims, as the Republic of India finds itself liberated from Britain. As Muslims and Hindus flee from opposing sides for safety, Lajjo gets separated from the rest of the family to get kidnapped some time later by one Muslim boy. Puro after knowing that Ramchand's village's Hindus are passing by her own place,decides to visit the night camp where locals go to give food etc.There she meets Ramchand who woefully tells her of Lajjo's situation. Puro begs Rashid to help her find Lajjo and rescue her, as Puro reminds Rashid that if he indeed has a heart, he will realize that it is not too late for Lajjo to be saved. As Puro underwent a ceremony to be branded - literally - as a Muslim, and be renamed Hamida, Lajjo had not as yet. Racing from home to home under the alias of a saleswoman,Puro finally finds Lajjo, and with Rashid's assistance meets Rajjo and brother Ramchand at a Refugee camp, where Hindus and Muslims who found themselves in situations similar to Puro's and Lajjo's were finally allowed freedom and guarantees of safety. Lajjo is welcomed lovingly by Ramchand ,Trilok is also there in the camp who meets his sister Puro & explains her that she can finally return & Ramchand is ready to accept her even now.However Puro surprises Trilok and the audience by explaining that she is where she belongs - with Rashid. His dedication to helping her save Lajjo proved how much he indeed did love Puro, and for that Puro finds she can finally return his love.

And so in an ironic twist of fate, Puro seeks Rashid out in the camp and the two bid Ramchad, Trilok, and Lajjo farewell, forever.