Partition and the Betrayal of India's Independence: an analysis of Ritwik Ghatak's cinema

Abstract

At Partition the dream of India’s independence from British colonial rule transformed itself into the horrific nightmare of communal violence. Ritwik Ghatak, one of the most important film makers of India, served the crucial function of chronicling this mass tragedy. The independence of India resulted not only in the partition of the subcontinent but in the mass migration of people. This inevitably led people to homelessness, unemployment, segregation and abject impoverishment. However, the reduction of the middle class into the lower class was not because of partition alone but also a result of the anti-people model that the Indian government adopted post-independence. This chapter will look at the ongoing trauma of
Partition and the way the people experienced it by analysing Ritwik Ghatak’s films.