The trailer for Batwara 1947, the Hindi period drama film starring Sunny Deol in the lead, is out. The film, produced by Aamir Khan, is set in Lahore during the 1947 Partition of India/Pakistan. Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Ali Fazal, Karan Deol, and others play important roles in this August 14th release.
Netizens are alleging that Batwara 1947 will present a sanitized version of the events that led to the Partition. Some accuse it of being "Bollywood propaganda" that pushes a one-sided "peace" or insaniyat message while downplaying communal violence, politics, or historical realities of the Partition. A few call it soft on certain angles or overly focused on emotional storytelling at the expense of depth.
Average dialogues, BGM concerns, and questions about whether it has epic scale for such a historic event (some see it more as a localized family story) also exist.
The film is directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, a veteran filmmaker with no grasp of contemporary treatment. "The story looks good, but visually something feels off. It lacks that cinematic texture and feel you expect from a film. The images feel a little too clean and flat, giving it more of a TV like aesthetic than a theatrical one. The visual treatment just doesn’t feel cinematic," a netizen commented. Batwara 1947 will head to theatres on August 14.
