The movie blows away all such pretensions. It is a good, well-made, entirely believable film. And it belongs totally to the director. For example, though Aamir is considered a very fine actor, in most movies Aamir still comes across as Aamir performing a role - the actor / role differentiation does not blur and Aamir still remains larger than life compared to the role. In 1947-Earth, the role envelopes Aamir completely - I didn't see Aamir, I just saw Dilnavaz all through the film. And this is the film's strength. The actors are perfectly cast. And for a director to be able to do this with Bollywood actors and actresses speaks volumes for her abilities. This movie belongs to Deepa Mehta through and through.

One problem with viewing Hindi films is the need to change the critique base depending on the type of film. So when I watch Baadshah, I compare it to other stupid, funny Hindi films and rate it accordingly. Even if I rate it high, it does not mean that it is a terrific film - it just means that in its genre, it is better than the rest. 1947-Earth compares with the best of international films (which do not include Taal, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, etc) and comes out at the very top.

The film is based on " Cracking India", an autobiographical story by Bapsi Sidhwa. The story revolves around Lenny (Bapsi Sidhwa herself as an eight-year old), played by Maia Sethna. Lenny is entirely believable - no precociousness, no silly adult behaviour that we see in all our Hindi movie children - just a normal, young Parsi girl, completely bewildered by the events unfolding around her. Her presence in virtually every scene makes her the pivot around which the rest of the characters revolve, their emotions and reactions all playing foil to her.

The film starts languorously, taking its time to establish the characters and their relationships with each other, against a background of increasing political and social tension due to imminent partition. The first half is warm and comfortable - the interplay between Lenny and Shanta (Nandita Das), her ayah, between Shanta and Hassan (Rahul Khanna), the maalishwala and between Shanta and and Dilnavaz, sometimes the ice-candy man and sometimes the parrot-seller, is a treat. Lenny is a Parsi, living with her parents (Kitu Gidwani and Arif Zakaria). Shanta is responsible for taking care of Lenny and generally takes her around wherever she goes. That is how Lenny meets and makes friends with Hassan and Dilnavaz who are both in love with Shanta. Shanta, despite flirting with both of them, loves Hassan - this eventually leads to their downfall. Soon, the clouds of partition gather over Lahore and the tone of the movie changes to one of dread and fear. The characters start dealing with their personal demons. Eventually, some die, some convert, some live and some come through unharmed, but not unscathed.

Nandita Das leaves a lasting impression, with her coquettishness and charm. Rahul Khanna speaks with his eyes and is very restrained, but makes his presence felt. Raghuvir Yadav plays yet another, "bumpkinish" role, Kulbhushan Kharbanda plays the family cook and Gulshan Grover plays the initially angry, but later scared and defeated Sikh. A host of other known actors and faces play small, but well-defined characters.

Many of us who have never had any contact with the partition or the people involved, do not really understand what it means to those who have had to go through it - my exposure to the partition is through books, movies and conversations with the various Sindhis who came to Mumbai from Pakistan. My reaction to partition-based stories and movies is similar to the reaction I have to Holocaust stories and movies - both having happened in another time and place with no direct effect on my families and elders, thus giving me no basis for a personal, emotional reaction. Because of this, I have no idea how those who were uprooted during the partition, those who saw their friends and families killed or those who participated in the mayhem will react to this film.

I did not see "Fire", when it was released last year. I will do so now. 1947-Earth has added Deepa Mehta's name to my list of "must-see" directors, irrespective of the cast.