Indo-Pak pataakha

In his latest film Pataakha Firecracker Vishal Bhardwaj explores the relations between two ferocious schoolgoing sisters Champa Kumari Badki Radhika Madan and Genda Kumari Chutki Sanya Malhotra in smalltown RajasthanNothing makes them come alive more than allout catfights involving swearing thrashing hairpulling kicking and dragging each other in a pile of cow dung And their dreams diverge one wants to finish school and open her own sakool the other wants to drop out of school to start her own dairy Early on the narrator describes the two sisters as IndiaPakistan permanently on a short fuse coiled for attackThe girls experience much misogyny including by a loving yet wretched father who arranges to sell them in marriage in exchange for a bundle of cash required for a business deal It is extraordinarily rare in India let alone Rajasthan that both sisters elope and marry finding husbands who aredevoted to making their dreams come true Yet Chutki elopes with and marries a guy who tried to rape her at their very first meeting Theres feisty women and feminism in this film all right but also horrifically mixed messagesHowever politically the story suggests India and Pakistan really love each other beneath all that posturing Madan and Malhotra are marvellously feisty dad Vijay Raaz is in good form and the two husbands played by Namit Das and Abhishek Duhan are good too But Sunil Grover steals the scene as Dipper what a marvellous name a charming sleazoid in whom both sisters confide The explosive sisters metaphor works well though the script gets laboured in the second half Written by Bhardwaj it is based on CS Pathiks short story Do BehneinMainstream Bollywood has long addressed IndoPak relations with intelligence and an understanding of the heartbeat under the aggression Kabir Khans Kabul Express Ek Tha Tiger and Bajrangi Bhaijaan have sung paeans to the deeprooted friendship among people across the subcontinent Meghna Gulzars Raazi blurred the lines between friend and enemy and respected the patriotism of both nations Most of these films have been popular reflecting what people really think Mulk and Manto could not be more different yet both question communalism and fundamentalist patriotism All these films take forward in mainstream cinema what MS Sathyu discussed in his haunting Garm Hava Scorching Winds 1974Of course there will always be the macho aggression of real life Gadar Border et al It was the same aggression between East Germany and West Germany that subsided to become a united stronger Germany Likewise the European Union has 28 members many of whom were at war with each other for centuries but today form a strong relatively peaceful united economic blocWhen the British left they divided us and destroyed us Seventyone years later our politicians are doing the same Politicians and arms dealers bait our hotheads and laugh all the way to the bank while we willingly offer ourselves as thanda gosht Why let some goras take credit for destroying us bhai when we can do it ourselves Aa gai mujhe maarMeenakshi Shedde is South Asia Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival awardwinning critic curator to festivals worldwide and journalist Reach her at meenakshisheddegmailcomCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates