A Sikh soldier, a Muslim girl, and a hunger that defies borders — 1947's forbidden love that history tried to erase.
The film is set in 1947. The exodus has begun after Partition. A Sikh ex-military man in his thirties finds a 16-year-old Muslim girl alone in a nearby village and brings her home. But the villagers tell him he should either marry her or leave her in a camp where people bound for Pakistan are located. But he decides that since he is far older, he would better leave her at the camp. As he is about to send her off with a man bound for the camp and who is prepared to marry her there, she asks Buta Singh, if he is so poor that he cannot even feed her two Rotis per day to keep her alive...
Acting
Gurdas Mann's eyes carry entire villages of pain.
Score
Punjabi folk that'll live rent-free in your head forever.
Writing
The 'two rotis' proposal — devastating in its simplicity.
Director
Shamim Ara
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Boota Singh is a real folk legend in Punjab, with annual melas held at his shrine near Faisalabad — the film revived nearly-forgotten oral history.
Director Shamim Ara was a Pakistani film legend; this cross-border production was shot in Indian Punjab with crew from both nations during the 1990s thaw.
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