https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Train_to_Pakistan_%28film%29Train to Pakistan (film) - Revision history2026-11-08T13:10:43ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Train_to_Pakistan_(film)&diff=541776&oldid=prevInstaNews: Created info...2026-03-28T15:34:08Z<p>Created info...</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}<br />
{{Infobox film<br />
| name = Train to Pakistan<br />
| image =Train_to_Pakistan_(film).jpg<br />
<br />
| alt =<br />
| caption =<br />
| director = [[Pamela Rooks]]<br />
| producer = R. V. Pandit<br />Ravi Gupta<br />Bobby Bedi<br />
| writer = <br />
| screenplay = Pamela Rooks<br />
| story = <br />
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Train to Pakistan]]''|[[Khushwant Singh]]}}<br />
| narrator =<br />
| starring = [[Nirmal Pandey]]<br />[[Rajit Kapur]]<br />[[Mohan Agashe]]<br />[[Smriti Mishra]]<br />
| music = Piyush Kanojia<br />[[Taufiq Qureshi]]<br />Kuldeep Singh<br />
| cinematography = [[Sunny Joseph]]<br />
| editing = A. V. Narayana<br />Sujata Narula<br />
| studio =<br />
| distributor =<br />
| released = {{film date|df=y|1998|11|6}}<br />
| runtime = 108 minutes<br />
| country = India<br />
| language = Hindi<br />
| budget =<br />
| gross = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''''Train to Pakistan''''' is a 1998 Indian [[Hindi film]] adapted from [[Khushwant Singh]]'s 1956 novel [[Train to Pakistan|by the same name]] set in the [[Partition of India]] of 1947 and directed by [[Pamela Rooks]].<ref name="tr"/> The film stars [[Nirmal Pandey]], [[Rajit Kapur]], [[Mohan Agashe]], [[Smriti Mishra]], [[Mangal Dhillon]] and [[Divya Dutta]].<br />
<br />
==Plot==<br />
The film is set in Mano Majra, which is a quiet fictional village on the border of [[India]] and [[Pakistan]], close to where the railway line crosses the [[Sutlej River]]. The film develops around the love affair of small-time dacoit Juggut Singh (Nirmal Pandey), with a local Muslim girl, Nooran ([[Smriti Mishra]]). ''Mano Majra'', incidentally, was the original title of the book upon its release in 1956.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lal|first=Mohan |title=The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume 5. (Sasay To Zorgot)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&q=mano+majra&pg=PA4367|year=2006|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=81-260-1221-8|page=4367}}</ref> The villagers are a mix of [[Sikh]]s and [[Muslim]]s, who live in harmony. The Sikhs own most of the land, and the Muslims work as labourers. During the summer of 1947, when the [[Partition of India]] was taking place, the entire country was a hotbed of extremism and intolerance. The Muslims in India moved towards the newly formed Pakistan, and the Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan migrated to refugee camps in India. One day, a [[train]] arrives from Pakistan, which carries bodies of all the Sikh and Hindu children, Women and Men who have been butchered while they tried to depart from Pakistan. That is when this quiet village is changed forever.<ref name="tr">{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070805/spectrum/main1.htm|title=Films & Partition train of History|date=5 August 2007|work=The Tribune|archive-date=20 July 2016|access-date=7 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720155818/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070805/spectrum/main1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Cast==<br />
* [[Mohan Agashe]] as Hukum Chand<br />
* [[Nirmal Pandey]] as Jaggat Singh, Jagaa<br />
* [[Rajit Kapoor]] as Iqbal<br />
* [[Smriti Mishra]] as Nooran<br />
* [[Divya Dutta]] as Haseena, the Muslim prostitute girl<br />
* [[Mangal Dhillon]] as the sub-inspector<br />
<br />
==Development==<br />
The film was one of the most anticipated adaptations of its time, especially being writer Khushwant Singh's most acclaimed work. According to him, several people in past have attempted to make the film, including [[Shashi Kapoor]] and [[Shabana Azmi]], who even developed a screenplay, but owing to the sensitivity of the subject, they abandoned the project.<ref name=no>{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990110/01050445.html|title=No malice towards Rooks: Khushwant|date=10 January 1999|work=Indian Express}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref><br />
<br />
Pamela Rooks first read the novel at 17, preparing for the title role of Nooran, which she was set to play in the prospective [[Ismail Merchant]] film, which never took off. The novel stayed with her, however, because growing up she had stories of the Partition from her parents. Initially the publishers of the book, Ravi Dayal, were hesitant to give the rights of the work to a new filmmaker, as this was only Rooks' second feature, till Ravi Gupta, Managing Director of [[National Film Development Corporation of India|NFDC]] stepped in and a go-ahead was given. Previously as her first feature, Rooks had adapted her own novel ''[[Miss Beatty's Children]]'', into a 1993 film by the same name, which won her the [[National Film Award (India)|National Film Award]] for [[Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director|Best First Film of a Director]]. For her adaptation, Rooks chose a slightly different narrative from the original novel. Thus, the film begins with Hukum Chand, the [[District magistrate|District Magistrate]], reminiscing about the partition period. However, she has visually translated most of the lines from Khushwant Singh's narrative directly on to the screen.<ref name=fif>{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970725/20650843.html|title=Fifty summers after|date=25 July 1997|work=Indian Express}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref><br />
<br />
==Production==<br />
The film was produced by [[Channel Four Films]] and [[National Film Development Corporation of India]] (NFDC), and the production company was [[Kaleidoscope Entertainment]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-10-04 |title=Reel life success - BusinessToday |url=https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/new-business/story/reellife-success-11862-2007-10-04 |access-date=2026-03-28 |website=Business Today |language=en}}</ref> The shooting began nearly fifty years after the actual partition of India in 1947. Though many villages of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] resembled the Punjab of fifty years prior, Muslim pockets were missing now, hence a couple of villages on the fringes of Punjab were used to give a combined look of Mano Majra, the village near the [[Indo-Pakistani border|Indo-Pak border]], where the novel was set. Pamela used her background in the documentary film, making to shoot certain parts of the film live, in scenes like that of religious ceremony at a temple, the feel couldn't have been recreated though retakes were shot live. The shooting was finally completed by July 1997, when the film went into post-production work in [[Mumbai]], ahead of its 15 August, television premiere on STAR Plus.<ref name=fif/><br />
<br />
==Release and critical reception==<br />
Initially, the film was to have its premiere on [[STAR Plus]] channel on 15 August 1997, India's Independence day, but it ran into trouble with the [[Indian Censor Board]], thus its theatrical release was also cancelled twice, and with director not agreeing to the cuts demanded by the board, the film went to a tribunal, which caused further delays. Eventually it was passed in December 1997 with a few cuts, mostly audio. Its television released happened on [[Star Plus]] in 1998, after its theatrical release.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?204930|title=Pamela Rooks|date=19 January 1998|magazine=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook (magazine)]]}}</ref> The film version had only one visual and few audio cuts. Subsequently, the film was released in the United States, [[Sri Lanka]] and on [[Channel Four]] in the UK, and also shown in several international film festivals,<ref name=no/> including, Zanzibar International Film Festival, 1998, World Film Festival National Films from South Festival Denmark, 1998, Beirut International Film Festival, 1998, Fiminale International Film Festival, Koln Germany, 1998, Soria Mora Film Festival, [[Oslo]], 1998, and Indian Film Week in Hong Kong, 2000.<ref>[http://www.nfdcindia.com/view_film.php?film_id=141 Train to Pakistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714180638/http://www.nfdcindia.com/view_film.php?film_id=141 |date=14 July 2011 }} ''[[National Film Development Corporation of India|NFDC]]''</ref> Besides critical acclaim, it was also nominated for Best Film at the 1999 [[Cinequest Film Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=archive |first=From our online |date=2017-10-12 |title=Get set for some classic cinematic treats in the capital this month! |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/kochi/2017/Oct/11/get-set-for-some-classic-cinematic-treats-in-the-capital-this-month-1671414.html |access-date=2026-03-28 |website=The New Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* {{IMDb title|id=0170704|title=Train to Pakistan}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Train To Pakistan (Film)}}<br />
[[Category:Films based on Indian novels]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in the partition of India]]<br />
[[Category:Rail transport films]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in Punjab, India]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in 1947]]<br />
[[Category:1998 Hindi-language films]]<br />
[[Category:1998 Indian films]]<br />
[[Category:Film censorship in India]]<br />
[[Category:Censored films]]<br />
[[Category:Works subject to expurgation]]</div>InstaNews