Ramchand Pakistani: A Tale of Two Nations review

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Bikas Mishra reviews Mehreen Jabbar's Ramchand Pakistani

Kids often help us understand the world better! India and Pakistan badly needed this Ramchand to show our decision makers how innocent people suffer from their politics around border and eagerness to fight over it.

Well known Pakistani television director Mehreen Jabbar's debut feature film "Ramchand Pakistani" approaches the issue from the fringes- A dalit Hindu family.

As you would expect any eight year old kid to not care about borders, Ramchand in a fit of fury walks past the line of control dividing the two nations. He is caught by Indian forces. His father in an attempt to retrieve him is also arrested and both of them are sent to a prison in Gujarat.

The story of Ramchand (Syed Fazal Hussain and Navaid Jabbar) and his father Shankar (Rashid Farooqi)  in the prison runs parallel to that of Champa (Nandita Das), who never loses hope for their return.

Ramchand Pakistani has multiple sub plots. The evolving bond and bitterness between growing Ramchand and his father in the prison is an interesting one, that has been done well. However, the setting of prison, is little stagy with eccentric characters as well as stereotypes. The result is that the prison appears to be more of a tool to discuss "issues" than a place of human interaction.

Kamala (Maria Wasti), is one character who is as mush a tribute to Bollywood as much a comment on it. A prison officer, a diehard fan of "Sridevi" cop movies who speaks in a Bambaiya accent. Kamala could be highly entertaining as a character, however, her idiosyncrasies are also an eyesore in an otherwise neo realist setting.

The most powerful of all characters is of course Champa, the mother of Ramchand, played by Nandita. A woman of immense perseverance and hope. She looks gorgeous in her colorful attire and shows tremendous restrain in her performance. She stands apart because like her costumes, her character also has many shades: a mother, a woman, a dalit, a bonded laborer who earns her freedom. There is an un-underlined sub plot of a friendship that she nurtures with a village bangle vendor. A relationship that is nipped in bud.

If you look at Ramchand Pakistani from a distance, it's about the relations of the two nations, who share so much in common and whose people struggle so hard for survival. Surprisingly, when their people live in dire human conditions, the nations are always eager to wage a war against each other. Ordinary people like Ramchand and his father fall prey to the politics of the two countries. Reassuringly, the two nations supported the project.

Ramchand Pakistani is an important film for the issue it deals with. It also tells the story with conviction and without much sentimentalization. Issues of craft and consistency could easily be overlooked for the relevance of the story and courage of storytelling.

A must watch!

[rating:3.5]

Watch Trailer

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3670144008428661804[/googlevideo]