October 22, 2003	Wednesday	Sha’aban 25, 1424

MUMBAI, Oct 21: India’s film industry is once again bringing to the big screen the horrors of the partition with the release later this month of “Pinjar” (Skeleton), starring popular actress Urmila Matondkar.

The movie is based on a novel by Amrita Pritam.

“I am playing a role of a Hindu girl who is rich and spoilt,” said Urmila Matondkar. “She goes through tragedy later as she sees the horrors of partition. This is a very period film and doing this role was challenging.”

She said her character, Puro, largely symbolizes the struggle of women during partition.

“The character refuses to be a helpless victim to the communal politics,” said Matondkar.

“It was difficult playing the role of a Punjabi girl, especially for someone like me who is from Mumbai. The culture of Punjab is rich and it was difficult to get that look,” she said.

“I have played more modern roles in my career till now so it was a challenge to do this period role,” she added.

“Pinjar must be seen by people to understand what partition was all about. The film says that atrocity does not have any face or religion. It is faceless. And, I think we cannot have every decade of ours filled with violence.”—AFP