Reviews 1 — Ken McMullen

Partition (1987)

The tumultuous events surrounding the sub-continent’s partition in 1947 into India and Pakistan are re-imagined in Ken McMullen’s complex and visually striking film.

A brilliantly executed and intense drama based around the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 and the transfer of power from British to Indian hands. Based on Saadat Hussan Manto’s famous short story about partition, McMullen’s film focuses on the historical footnote that inmates of lunatic asylums were also transferred – Muslims to asylums in Pakistan, Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan to India. The film is set in both an asylum on the border and the conference rooms of the rulers, and the same actors play both the rulers and the inmates of the asylum, with events in the asylum mirroring the actions of the ruling order. The film’s structure is complemented by superb cinematography and set design and the cast list reads like a who’s who of Indian acting talent.

“The imagery of the film is powerful. It is a brave film, bravely told”

— The Scotsman

The tumultuous events surrounding the Indian sub-continent's partition in 1947 are re-imagined in Ken McMullen's complex and visually striking film. An asylum in Lahore provides a mirror image of the political and social events happening in the outside world. The same actors are used for both inmates and rulers.

This powerful film was made 40 years after partition by artist and director, Ken McMullen, adapted in collaboration with Marxist academic and activist Tariq Ali from the short story, Toba Tek Singh, by acclaimed Urdu writer, Sadaat Hasan Manto.

A lunatic asylum in the city of Lahore becomes a mirror image of events in the outside political world, with the same actors playing both inmates and rulers. Adapted by Tariq Ali and McMullen from famous Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto’s short story ‘Toba Tek Singh’, Partition speaks for the countless millions that the usual British Raj films sweep out of sight.