Garm Hava (Scorching Winds)

In 1947, just after the Partition, a Muslim shoe manufacturer named Salim Mirza (Balraj Sahni) has decided to keep his family in India instead of fleeing to Pakistan with the others of his faith.  His daughter Amina (Gita Siddarth) is in love with her cousin Kazim (Jamal Hashmi), but he’s gone with Salim’s father Halim (Dinanath Zutshi) to Pakistan.  He promises to come back, but when he does, he gets deported before the marriage can happen.  Amina, heartbroken, turns to a fiercely devoted suitor, Shamshad (Jalal Agha), another cousin on her mother’s side.  But then Shamshad takes off as well, again with promises of future marriage that may or may not be kept.

Meanwhile, Salim’s son Sikander (Farooq Shaikh) is also in love, but cannot marry until his sister is wed.  To make matters worse, he can’t find work.  Employers are hesitant to hire Muslims.  Even a Muslim personnel director won’t hire him for fear of being accused of favoritism.  Salim’s other son gives up and eventually leaves for Pakistan.  And that’s not the end of Salim’s woes.  Banks and even moneylenders won’t provide loans to Muslims because so many have fled without paying their debts.  Salim’s factory loses business.  In trying to make ends meet, he loses his house, greatly upsetting his mother.  The union goes on strike, but Salim won’t close his factory because he’s struggling to fill an order.  As a result, his factory gets destroyed.  And even worse is yet to come.

Sorry for so much plot summary, but it’s a complicated film and worth enumerating many of the troubles that befell the few Muslims who elected to stay in their country.  Like Ritwik Ghatak — whose final feature (Reason, Debate and a Story) was filmed the same year — director M.S. Sathyu is deeply concerned about the shattering effects of the Partition.  Facing divided families, suspicion, economic hardship and prejudice, the Muslims were severely punished for not wanting to leave their homes.  Although occasionally a bit didactic, it’s a powerful drama that manages to handle many plot threads and culturally specific themes with ease.  The more grandiose moments rarely feel forced, but earned by the dramatic arcs of the characters.

Sahni gets much praise for his performance, which is quite good, but I was more impressed with Gita Siddarth.  In a role that requires heavy moments done with both careful restraint and emotional abandon, she delivers in a way reminiscent of Madhabi Mukherjee or Aparna Sen.  The other actors, especially Shaikh, are very fine as well, many of them non-actors or appearing in one of their earlier roles.  The film is also notable for some idiosyncratic use of sound (again reminiscent of Ghatak), sometimes overlapping scenes.  Amina’s romantic scenes are far more sensual and suggestive than I’m accustomed to seeing in Indian cinema.  The score by Ustar Bahadur Khan is lovely as well (just don’t expect any Bollywood-style song and dance numbers).  The cinematography is generally very good (although the use of bars to suggest entrapment is rather overdone) with some stunning shots at the Taj Mahal and other locations.  Rating: Very Good (85)

IMDb