La croisée des destins

The epic "Bhowani Junction" took two years in production (1954-55) including the location shooting in Lahore, Pakistan. It is a great melodrama that circumvents the tumultuous times and events unfolding Sub-continent's partition and the socio-political upheaval associated with it.

The perplexed minds and characters of Anglo Indians filled with angst were the signs of those turbulent times as the British pack up for their home country in the aftermath of India's partition and Independence. Ava Gardner as Victoria Jones has outperformed in all facets of her central character in the movie, as she perfectly translates her persona and body language which is in complete sync with the abnormal circumstances taking new twists and turns of fate with every passing day. Stewart Granger as Col. Rodney Savage is equally superb in his majestically mature performance who takes hold of a crisis like situation on Bhowani Junction (shot on actual location of gigantic Lahore Railway station) with wisdom, sagacity and the grit to out maneuver the machinations of Hindu rebels or trouble makers. That were trying times and the British colonialists had to deal with unusual challenging situations.

The screenplay and direction by George Cukor speaks for itself and I personally feel that this gem of a movie is underrated and unfortunately did not do a roaring business on the box office, but for all the glory that was Hollywood during that golden era of cinema, Bhowani Junction presents a complete feature film coupled with cinema-scope colour production, evocative musical score composed by Miklos Rozsa,thoughtful direction, superb cast and wonderful acting skills of those classic actors of a bygone age. (Ten out of ten). A must see for serious viewers.

Stars are the primary reason for me to watch old movies, because they just don't make them like that anymore. 'Bowani Junction' provides some of the best; Ava Gardner is so irresistibly attractive in this movie that watching her along is worth every penny spent for buying the copy. Better yet, other things in the film are also good. Granger, playing a more realistic role, is at his best elements as a daring arrogant English Col., match nicely with the beautiful Gardner as a romantic couple. Most of the Indian characters are well portrayed and I love movie with a historical background . The story is complicated ,yet well told and paced. The characters are interesting and well presented. Over all, this is Cukor's movie at its usual fine standard.

This one is not to miss for fans of Granger, Gardner, and Hollywood oldies.

The setting for Bhowani Junction is India during the last days of the British Raj. The town of Bhowani is a railroad junction and both the Congress Party and the Communist Party are doing all kinds of sabotage to help the British quickly get out of India. Of course each is doing it for their own reasons.

Two people who may have given the outstanding performances of their careers are Ava Gardner and Bill Travers. Both play bi-racial people who don't fit in either society. But they react differently. Gardner is going through a whole lot of angst, really seeing both the British and Indian point of view. How she missed an Oscar nomination here is beyond me.

Bill Travers is the railroad station manager and his whole life is his job. He focuses narrowly on that and his tunnel vision leaves him oblivious to the momentous changes around him. Except for the fact that when the British leave he might lose that little piece of authority where he is, that which gives him stature in the Raj society.

The issues are complex, but in the hands of a great director like George Cukor the characters and their struggles become real and even more important, the audience becomes interested.

Stewart Granger who was the British Colonel in charge of the whole mess in Bhowani, said that Bhowani Junction was one of the few films he was really proud to be associated with. He has a struggle to, he really does see the Indians as human beings and not just "wogs." He's quite knowledgeable about their customs and at one point utilizes that knowledge to unjam that railroad terminal.

Bhowani Junction is an intelligent and literate drama and a superb piece of film making.

This film could have been wonderful if some of the parts had been given to Indian actors. For instance, Hollywood and British studios make believe that Indians speak English in a sing-song manner. They might have heavy accents but few speak English that way. Freda Jackson's role as "the Sadani" (could it have been an ignorant variation of "Sardarni"?) was incredibly stupid casting in that she spoke impeccable English for a middle-class Sikh lady. This apart Jackson was able to dominate her screen time.

I would have liked to dismiss this film as a below average film but for the incredible performance of Ava Gardner who towers over all else in the movie. Take her accent--for an American, there was no trace of her origins when she spoke. She alone looked real with raven black hair in a sari draped in foppish manner--after all she was an Anglo-Indian. Had she worn well like an Aishwarya Rai, Cukor would have got it wrong.

Cukor deserves full credit for choosing Gardner for the role and for capturing the ambiance of romantic North Western Railways, its first class coaches, the engines and goods wagons. A keen observer will note that some of the shots of goods wagons showed vintage wagons, while others showed contemporary ones.

Though shot in Pakistan, the film caught the Indian ambiance perfectly, right up to the Railway quarters for its staff.

Ava Gardner, it is only too evident, performed well under the guidance of good directors as John Houston. This film and "Night of Iguana" are my personal favourites among her films.

Well, I've always sort of identified myself as an AngloBanglo.

My dad was born in Lahore in 1929 and my grandparents left Karachi in 1965 almost 20 years after partition because the Muslims had made it impossible for my Nana to continue to run her private school.

The returned to England like so many AngloBanglos where they were too Indian for the white and not Indian enough for the Indians.

Just like they were back in what was then Pakistan and by some account, India itself.

You have to remember that at this point, as depicted in the film, 1947 was the cusp of partition and violence was everywhere. My grandfather told me graphic stories of entire trains of people slaughtered he had witnessed.

Ava Gardner's character has to choose which side she is on but for many AngloBanglos the struggle goes on. We are neither brown enough for the browns, nor white enough for the whites. I now live in Canada but I self identify as English.

The sub text in George Cukor's story has lost some of it's impact over time because few remember the upheaval of partition but for some of us, it bring it back into focus.

More interesting to me is that it was released the year I was born, in England, in 1956.