‘Partition: 1947’: Why didn’t she showcase Nehru-Edwina relationship? Gurinder Chadha answers

Actress Huma Qureshi is making her international debut with British-Indian historical drama ‘Partition: 1947’, and the movie is hitting the screens tomorrow, i.e. August 18. The film is directed by renowned filmmaker Gurinder Chadha and many would be aware that the film’s plot chronicles the series of events that led to partition between India and Pakistan, back in the year 1947. And against the backdrop of the partition, revolves a love story of the characters played by Huma Qureshi and her co-star Manish Dayal. Recently, director Chadha was asked whether her film is actually the tale of Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina Mountbatten.

To which, she replied by saying, “From the outset my intention was to show how partition impacted ordinary people. I wanted to tell the upstairs-downstairs version of Viceroy’s House- so you have the political leaders making these huge decisions upstairs while their staff downstairs are left wondering what’s going to happen to them after India is divided. When there is a war or political crises, life doesn’t stop for ordinary people. We continue to fall in love, get married, and have children. So it was important for me to show a British Asian perspective on the end of empire and how politicians on all sides determined the fate of real people around them.” [sic] (Also Check: ‘Partition: 1947’: The perfect characters of this perfect period drama)

The ones who are politically aware, must have heard of the several rumours that have been doing rounds since the past seven decades, that of Lady Edwina Mountbatten’s relationship with India’s first PM post-partition, Late Jawaharlal Nehru. Chaddha was questioned on that as well. To which she replied by saying, “The film does not focus on what the nature of their relationship was. In talking with Pamela Mountbatten as we were writing the script what I do know is that both Edwina and Louis Mountbatten shared a profound love and friendship with Nehru. Pamela refers to him as Mamu. I thought it would be insulting to focus on whether the relationship between Nehru and Edwina was ever romantic in a film which is about how my family and 15 million others were made refugees overnight by the British decision to partition India.” [sic]

Well, certainly we are looking forward to the release of this film to see how well the impact is created on audiences through each and every character in the narrative.

Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.