by Vera Hälbig
was a German exchange Student, Munster University
Qissa is a fable that centres on the human dimension of the drawing of borders. The film is a lingering view on the disruptive consequences of the change of borders and on the reciprocal side of identity.
‘Qissa’ refers to a tradition of Punjabi story-telling and can be translated with “story” or “legend“– a tale you hear and want to share with others. This holds true for the film that was released in February 2015 in Indian theatres, in Punjabi with English subtitles. The quiet and nuanced Indo-European collaboration comes alive with the performance of a strong cast (Irrfahn Kahn, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Schome, a.o.) and trenchant cinematography by Sebastian Edschmid.
Directed by Anup Singh (The Name of a River), the story is set during Partition. In 1947, Umber Singh, his wife Mehar and their three daughters have to leave their home that became Pakistani territory. They flee to Punjab, India. There, they start anew but the past stays present. Umber laments the loss of his home and the lack of a male heir. When Mehar gives birth to their fourth daughter, Umber sees in the child the son he has hoped for, the continuation of his family’s history. He gives her the name Kanwar (“young prince”) and raises Kanwar to be his son. However, Kanwar’s later marriage to Neeli causes a challenge to the identities construed.
The unfolding plot, hereafter, confronts the audience with the power of concepts of patriarchy, masculinity, femininity and love and their respective influence on the body and mind. Until then, their ideological power had forcefully kept the characters’ identities in place.
Qissa’s narrative voice loses its clear-cut identity in the course of the film. Thereby, it counters male master narratives that have framed the look at nation formation. It creates space for stories of trauma and abduction.
The magical side to the film adds another level to the story, a tale that is openly influenced by the one who speaks and the one who listens. The film sheds light on past and present, on religious, caste and social structures in India. At its core, Qissa shows how much it takes to break with the categories into which we are placed, that we cannot do this alone but only in relation to others.
English