Qissa is a Punjabi-language Indian-German drama directed by Anup Singh. The film features Irrfan Khan in a central role, along with Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal, and Tisca Chopra. Set against the aftermath of the Partition, it explores gender identity, societal expectations, and the fatal obsession to fulfill dreams and desires.
Cinema is a strange medium; it can mend broken hearts, and at the same time break them too. Qissa is of the latter category, and it did not do it in a subtle way; it completely destroyed the viewers and left them numb. Qissa is not an easy watch; it’s tragic, it’s painful, and at the same time, it has a beauty. The beauty of dead flowers, the beauty of a cruel desert, and the beauty of unfulfilled desires.
Qissa – The Story of Heartbreak and Obsession
The narrative follows Umber Singh, a Sikh displaced during the 1947 Partition. He loses his village in Pakistan and resettles in Indian Punjab with his wife Mehar and three daughters. Desperate for a male heir, Umber raises her fourth child, Kanwar, as a boy despite her female birth. Years later, Kanwar marries Neeli, who was unaware of her true gender. The story unfolds into a psychological drama, culminating in a surreal twist with ghostly elements, that question identity and destiny.
Qissa – The Dream Like Quality
Anup Singh directs with a deliberate pace, drawing from his prior work, The Name of a River. He blends realism with magical realism, inspired by Indian folk tales and Freudian psychology. The film had a dreamlike ambience the evoke a surreal feeling. Singh’s approach emphasizes character depth over plot resolution, though some critique the shift to surrealism as abrupt. Singh spent 12 years developing the script. His collaboration with co-writer Madhuja Mukherjee shapes a layered script.
The film adopts a folk-tale style, merging partition with Umber’s personal conflict. It starts with stark realism, depicting Partition’s violence, then transitions to a psychological study of Umber’s obsession. The surreal ending, featuring a ghost and a burnt haveli, introduces ambiguity, resulting in a more open but equally tragic ending.
Performances
Irrfan Khan delivers a nuanced portrayal of Umber Singh, balancing vulnerability, desperation and patriarchal rigidity. His improvisational humming during shoots, noted by Singh, highlights his method. The obsession and pain Irrfan shows with his mannerisms, his voice and above all, his eyes will surely transport you into the story itself. One more unique ability that Irrfan had was to ground characters that can easily be melodramatic or over the top. Umber Singh was a character that had the potential to be an out-and-out villain, a monster. But only because of Irrfan, we care about him as much as his victims, Kanwar, Neeli and Mehar.
Tisca Chopra plays Mehar, the wife of Umber, a helpless woman who does not share her husband’s beliefs. Tillotama Shome excels as Kanwar, capturing the internal struggle of a woman raised as a man. Shome did a tremendous job of showing the descent of Kanwar into madness after meeting the ghost of Umber. Rasika Dugal brings vitality to Neeli, a woman who finds herself in the midst of a strange madness. The conflict between her sympathy and subsequent love towards Kanwar and her own desires was the highpoint of her performance.
Technical Aspects
The film’s cinematography by Sebastian Edschmid uses muted tones to reflect post-Partition bleakness. Barren, hilly terrains, though not typical of Punjab, add a visual contrast. Camera work especially stands out in detailed shots of Punjab’s landscapes and intimate close-ups.The low lighting and deep shadows in conflicting scenes enhanced the feel and heaviness of the story.
The dialogue shifts dialects to reflect time periods. Punjabi lines carry cultural weight, while Kanwar’s silences speak volumes. The monologues of Umber haunts the viewers for a long time. The script avoids over-explanation, leaving interpretation to the audience, which some find challenging.
Music and Themes
Béatrice Thiriet and Manish J. Tipu compose the background score, blending Western and Indian elements. The music enhances the film’s mood but lacks a strong Punjabi flavor, per some reviews. The film does not have many songs just a folk inspired background song. But whatever little it has, it can transport you straight to Punjab.
The film tackles gender roles, with Umber’s obsession for a son reflecting his deep patriarchal thinking. It addresses Partition’s lasting trauma, showing displacement’s psychological impact. Identity crisis, family dynamics, and the clash between destiny and desire form core themes. The surreal ending raises questions about sanity and legacy.
Critical Acclaim
Critics lauded the acting and cinematography. Shabana Azmi praised Singh’s direction. However, the surreal shift and forced climax drew criticism for undermining realism. But the same thing also adds to its appeal and makes it different. Commercially, it remained a niche success, appealing to art-house audiences rather than mainstream viewers.
Qissa won the Netpac Award for World or International Asian Film at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Tillotama Shome received the Best Actress title at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s New Horizons Competition in 2013. The film’s festival circuit presence highlights its artistic merit.
Qissa on IMDB
