NEW DELHI, Mar 6: It may have been seven decades since the partition of the country in 1947 but the story of the tragic events that accompanied it, remains relevant even today, Bollywood actress Huma Qureshi says. Huma, who features in Gurinder Chadha’s ‘Viceroy’s House ‘, a film that deals with the course of events during the partition, says that ”Despite 70 years having elapsed since partition, that brought in its wake violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims, causing tremendous loss of lives and destruction on both sides, we have not learnt anything from it.” ”It happened 70 years ago but we haven’t really learnt anything. Every few years we keep making the same mistakes again and again and not learning from history,” Huma said in an interview to a British daily Telegraph.
Huma, who plays the role of an interpreter to Lord Mountbatten, says that telling the story on partition was important in today’s times when there was an increasing attempt across the world to divide people through the pursuance of hate politics. ”It’s important to tell this story to show there is no point in dividing people or criminalising a particular community. It is just going to create more bloodshed and violence.
There are so many right wing governments coming up all over the world which are dividing people with hate politics and an ‘us versus them’ mentality. It is really scary,” Huma said. Directed by Gurinder Chadha , famous for films like ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ and ‘Bride and Prejudice’, ‘Viceroy’s House’ charts the events in the months leading up to India’s independence from British rule in 1947, and the creation of Pakistan. Being released by Reliance Entertainment in India, ‘Viceroy’s House’ stars Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, Om Puri, Tanveer Ghani, Denzil Smith, Neeraj Kabi and several international names. In the film, Hollywood actor Honie Bonneville plays the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, who, in the final months of British rule, is tasked with preparing to hand the land back over to the Indian people. The decision to create an independent country for Muslims?Pakistan?leads to conflict and impacts both Lord and Lady Mountbatten?played by Gillian Anderson?as well as their 500 servants who live downstairs.
Huma is Lord Louis Mountbatten’s Muslim interpreter. Her character, Aalia, is part of a sub-plot that looks at the human impact of partition . Aalia, a Muslim, falls for a Hindu boy, Jeet, who works at the Viceroy’s House but they are ripped apart by a country in turmoil as borderlines are redrawn and 14 million people are displaced or killed. Aalia must decide whether to re-join family in Pakistan with her father or remain with the man she loves. Talking about the film, Huma said, ”It’s a very watchable and surprisingly heartwarming 100 minutes of cinema, resplendent with beautiful interiors, pageantry and shiny Rolls Royce cars.” Huma said that for preparing for the role, she enlisted the help of Jaya Thadani, an interpreter to Lord Mountbatten under colonial rule, who was close to Gandhi and regaled her with stories about the Viceroy’s house. Huma, who made her mark in Bollywood with the film ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, says she is quite choosy when it comes to picking her films. “Everything doesn’t have to change the world but it should have something to say,” she said. (AGENCIES)
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