It is impossible to review Earth without giving some background into the events that precipitated one of the worst holocausts that mankind has seen. It was 1947, and Britain, ravaged by World War II was faced with the unimaginable: The sun was finally setting on the empire, and the new labour prime minister, Atlee, had decided to relinquish the treasured Jewel in the Crown, India. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy to India, was assigned the task of overseeing this onerous task. It was decided that the British raj would be vivisected into two separate entities along religious lines: India and Pakistan and what resulted was one of the largest migrations that history has witnessed. Twelve million Hindus, Sikhs and Moslems crossed the borders of the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, and an estimated one million lost their lives in the massacre that ensued.
Deepa Mehta's powerful new film, Earth (Hindi / Urdu with English subtitles), is the second installment of a trilogy, the previous one being the acclaimed Fire. The movie is based on the novel "Cracking India" by Bapsi Sidhwa, and is set in Lahore in late 1947. It is narrated mainly from the viewpoint of its eight year old protagonist, Lenny, played by newcomer, Maia Sethna. Lenny's parents are Pharsees -- a fire worshipping community that traces its origins to Persia -- and are therefore "neutral", in sense that they do not belong to the either of the three communities involved in the conflict. Lenny's Hindu Ayah (nanny) Shanta, played by the duskily beautiful Nandita Das, has suitors from all communities, notably, Ice Candy Wala (ice candy man) Dil Nawaz, played by Bollywood matinee idol Aamir Khan, and Molish Man (the masseur) Hasan, played by newcomer Rahul Khanna.
The fact that the three communities existed in an atmosphere of cordial brotherhood is well captured by the depiction of the kite flying spring festival. Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims, intermingle with one another and their relationships are so cordial that they even makes jokes about dietary choices.
However, when the partition is announced, the same people who had coexisted in a peaceful brotherhood for centuries now realize the prospect of usurping each other's land and property in the name of religion. The mutual mistrust that had been festering below the surface only adds fuel to the fire, and frenzied mobs from all communities engage in acts of unspeakable savagery. In one of the best and most harrowing scenes in the film, an anxious crowd awaits a belated train of Moslem refugees from Gurdaspur on the Indian side of the border. A pall of gloom falls as the train ominously chugs into the station, and...
Reprisals follow, terror grips the region, and a mass exodus -- Hindus and Sikhs to India and Moslems to Pakistan begins. Others, who have no choice decide to convert to a different religion, or face the inevitable.
We watch in horror as the ten year old daughter of a sweeper is married off to an old dwarf to convert the family to Christianity. All this in an atmosphere of gaiety replete with song and dance, and as a character in the film comments, "Fear makes all of us to abandon reason". Another character converts to Islam to save himself, and in one of the most excruciating scenes in the film, is forced to show "proof" of his religious identity by a mob baying for blood.
The cast in earth is uniformly good, and Nandita Das and Maia Sethna are outstanding in their roles. IMO, it a must see film for anyone interested in the history of the Indian subcontinent, but be warned that it isn't an easy movie to watch, and the ending is devastating.
Atul
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