Batwara 1947‘s storyline is a winner and it has all the ingredients of a hard-hitting yet emotional film. Director Rajkumar Santoshi‘s direction is simplistic and his biggest strength is how he sensitively handles the religious aspect. The film speaks about humanity, a message that feels particularly relevant in today’s times. The action scenes are superb, while the bond shared by the old woman with the new occupants in the house is heartening. The climax is very moving. On the flipside, the first half is thanda and devoid of enough action scenes. This is disappointing since the trailer promised loads of action. Even the dialogues aren’t as hard-hitting as those in Sunny Deol and Rajkumar Santoshi’s earlier films like Ghayal, Damini and Ghatak. In fact, the play from which the film is adapted is classier than Batwara 1947 and yet has far more clapworthy one-liners. The songs are forgettable while the film is too long. Sunny Deol, like always, is fiery during the action scenes. But watch out for scenes where he breaks down. Shabana Azmi‘s performance is very endearing, ensuring that one would connect with her from the very first scene. Preity G Zinta puts up a great act and it’s a pleasure to see her again on screen. Karan Deol, Khhushi Hajare (Tanno) and Kanikka Kapur (Nishat) are decent. Ali Fazal (Habib Anwar) is too good in a supporting role, while Abhimanyu Singh is apt as the villain. Ira Sandhir (Tabassum) is wasted. All in all, Batwara 1947 could have been more hard-hitting but nevertheless, it is worth watching once.
My rating – *** out of 5!