Plot
Lord
'Dickie'
Mountbatten
(Hugh
Bonneville),
the
last
viceroy
appointed
by
George
VI
arrives
in
India
with
his
wife
Edwina
(Gillian
Anderson)
and
daughter
Pamela
(Lily
Travers)
to
oversee
the
peaceful
transfer
of
power
from
Britain
to
India
in
1947.
His
palatial
mansion,
'The
Viceroy's
House'
refracts
the
story
of
partition
of
India which
went on
to
conflict
wounds
that
run
deep.
Meanwhile,
there
is
love
simmering
between
Jeet
(Manish
Dayal),
a
newly
employed
Hindu
manservant
at
the
Viceroy's
palatial
estate,
and
his
long
separated
Muslim
childhood
friend
Aalia
(Huma
Qureshi).
Unexpectedly
reunited, the
pair
is
now
keen
to
rekindle
their
romance but
there's
a
glitch.
She
is
already
betrothed
to
another,
while
Jeet
is
determined
to
win
over
his
love.
But,
will
it
be
all
so
easy
especially
when the
looming threat
of
India's
Muslim-Hindu
division
threatens
to
separate
them
forever?
Direction
Just
before
the
end
credits
roll,
director
Gurinder
Chadha mentions how
the
ugly
partition
engulfed
her
Sikh
relatives
and one
of
her
aunts,
a
mere
child
fell
victim
to
starvation.
If
one
goes
by
these
words,
'1947:
Partition' is supposed
to
be
a
more
personal
account.
But
unfortunately,
it
ends
up
being
mere
superficial.
What
breaks
your
heart
even
more
is
that
Chadha
imposes
a
cliched
love
story
in
her
narrative
as
a
sugar
coat
to
make
us
swallow
the
bitter
pill
of
partition!
Her
film
presents
Mountbatten
as
a
mere
pawn
for
a
secret
partition
plan
that
his
taskmasters
had
been
preparing
for
years.
She
steers
clear
from
exploring
the
'Nehru-Edwina
relationship'
angle.
Having
said
that,
Chadha's
efforts
to
tell
the
epochal
events
of
1947
for
the
widest
possible
audience
needs
to
be
appreciated.
But
it's
her
subtle
treatment
to
the
subject
that
leaves
you
a
little
disappointed.
Performances
Hugh
Bonneville
plays
his
role
of
Lord
Mountbatten
with
perfection.
Gillian
Anderson
as
Edwina
Mountbatten
has
plenty
of
shining
moments
in
the
film.
Though
Manish
Dayal-
Huma
Qureshi's
romantic
track
isn't
impressive,
the
duo
still
manage
to
hold
your
attention.
Tanveer
Ghani
and
Denzil
Smith are
aptly
cast
as Nehru
and Jinnah
respectively. Neeraj
Kabi
looks
a
bit
awkward
as
Gandhi.
Arunoday
Singh
and
Late.
Om
Puri
suffer
from
underwritten
roles.
Technical
Aspects
Ben
Smithard's
cinematography
is
top-notch
whereas
Victoria
Boydell's
editing
gels
well
with
the
film.
Music
A.R
Rahman's
effective
background
score
works
brilliantly
for
the
film.
Verdict
1947:
Partition
is
well-intentioned,
but
it
fails
to
pierce
your
heart
and
ends
up
being
merely
superficial.
Watch
it
only
if
you
are
in
a
mood
for
some
quick
re-run
of
history
but
don't
want
to
reach
out
to
those
drab
history
textbooks!