A Passage To India : To NOT From

Director David Lean
Starring Victor Banerjee, Art Malik, Judy Davis, Peggy Ashcroft
Release date December 14, 1984
Running Time 156 minutes

Nothing is significantly new to tell about a 'loyal' movie version of a novel. It doesn't deal with anything further and deeper than the novel dealt with.

The book was published in 1924, and the movie released in 1984. Even after these six long decades 'Sir' David Lean has succeeded to maintain the attitude of his predecessor. Times changed, perspective didn't. His portrayal of Indian people (in general) as superstitious, overwhelmingly politicized, reason-less even sexually overactive (to the extent of perversion), and Indian nature full of ornate elephants, demonic monkeys and venomous snakes - is just another effort to reinforce the discourses prevailing from the days of old glorious British Raj.

In short, the film (so was the book) a stupid and unintelligent attempt to create a colonial narrative behind the mask of liberal humanism. The film is even shallower than the book.

One thing we must remember that this is a Passage 'to' India, not the other way round. And this is a 'passage' that transports not a 'bridge' that connects. So either way its one way. It is meant to satisfy the British desire and nothing else. Even today, I see the DVD cover, and I find, Dr. Aziz (played by our won Mr. Victor Banerjee) couldn't get himself printed. The simple reason: though he is considered to be 'the' protagonist, he is not a British. And the complex reason: this 'intentional fallacy' (probably I am not using a right term) , the characterization of Dr. Aziz is something that the colonialists now want not to be spoken of at large.

One more thing I may mention here. Our old new wave friend François Truffaut once made a valuable comment on Lean's films : describing them as nothing more than "Oscar packages" !