In the winter of 1947, as the princely state of Junagadh was moving back and forth between India and Pakistan in the wake of Partition, Husyn (Naseeruddin Shah), an old, blind Muslim man and his family \u2013 his wife, Sakina (Padmavati Rao) and daughter, Noor (Rasika Dugal) \u2013 are preparing to leave the home that has been in their family for generations and move to Pakistan.\u00a0 In the midst of their packing, they are visted by Kishorilal (Raj Arjun), the Hindu businessman who has purchased their home \u2013 and, more importantly, its precious contents.\u00a0 Kishorilal wants to make sure that the deal is going according to plans, and has brought the legal papers to be signed. \u00a0He reminds Sakina that the documents he\u2019s brought only state what they have already agreed upon \u2013 that the sale is for the house and everything in it.\u00a0 \u201cWithout my permission,\u201d he reminds her, \u201cyou can take nothing with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sakina leaves to take a moment to examine the papers, and Kishorilal is drawn by the music played by a gramophone in an adjecent room, where he finds Husyn listening to music and smoking a hookah, which he offers to share with the stiff and uncomfortable Kishorilal.\u00a0 Husyn assumes Kishorilal has been drawn in by the music, though we know he\u2019s more interested in the gramophone itself, and, perhaps, what it will fetch in his shop.\u00a0 But when Sakina returns with the papers for Husyn to sign, he suggests that perhaps Kishorilal would also appreciate \u201cmussawari\u201d \u2013 the illuminated miniatures for which Husyn was famous as the most well-known painter \u2013 the Head Miniaturist \u2013 in the Nawab of Junagadh\u2019s court.\u00a0 Sakina reveals that Husyn has become blind because of his devotion to the perfection of his art.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Husyn offers to show Kishorilal his precious miniatures, the latter is immediately interested, no doubt relishing the thought of making sure they remain in the house as part of the sale.\u00a0 Sakina, flustered, knocks over the inkwell, spoiling the sale documents that Husyn has just signed.\u00a0 Kishorilal is annoyed, but they arrange for him to return with freshly typed ones which will be signed just before the family departs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Kishorilal returns that evening, Noor lets him into the house. She wishes to take the papers to her father to have them signed; Kishorilal insists on doing it himself. Implicit in this is Kishorilal\u2019s claim on the miniatures as stated in the agreement that he is buying everything valuable in the house, including the gramophone, which Noor indicates they are leaving for him; but also, Husyn\u2019s paintings as well. A troubled Noor tells Kishorilal that none of her father\u2019s paintings are going to be of any value to him, but when Kishorilal insists he must see them and judge for himself, Noor reveals the secret she and her mother have been hiding: only one of her father\u2019s miniatures is left, the one that was most precious to him. The others were all sold to try to buy off the mobs threatening their home. Blank pieces of paper were inserted in the folios to replace the paintings, the women confident that Husyn would not touch them for fear of spoiling them. It is left to Kishorilal \u2013 decidedly dour, uncompassionate to the circumstances the family finds themselves in \u2013 to decide if he will keep their secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In The Miniaturist of Junagadh<\/strong>, director Kaushal Oza builds on his inspiration (the Stefan Zweig short story entitled \u201cThe Invisible Collection\u201d, set in post-WW1 Germany) and gives us a short film that is a perfect reflection of one of the master painter\u2019s miniatures \u2013 impeccably shot (Kumar Saurabh’s cinematography is lush and gorgeous), with exquisite sound design, a fine attention to the small details, and characters played to perfection by the film\u2019s actors.\u00a0 Husyn is an artist, a refined man whose very existence is poetic.\u00a0 When his daughter, Noor, brings two cups of tea for them to drink, Husyn tells her not to drink it all at once, to make sure she leaves at least a sip in the cup, reminding her of the saying, \u00a0\u201cOne who leaves the last sip in the cup, shall one day return to Junagarh for another slurp.\u201d\u00a0 When we see a cup with tea left in it as the family leaves, we immediately understand that Husyn\u2019s intention is to be able to return to his home one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kishorilal is revealed to be a devout Hindu with just a few brushstrokes: his unwillingness to care for the family cat which only eats fish; his discomfort at touching the glass of sharbat he is offered, wiping his hands quickly as he puts it down again, without drinking. And the two women, Sakina and Noor, selling the miniatures to buy safety, but also gently and fiercely protecting their Husyn\u2019s precious memory of his art, and his pride as well: Husyn does not see his blindness as something he\u2019s lost; rather, it\u2019s something he\u2019s earned, something that marks him as a master of his art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oza\u2019s exquisite film is measured and poetic \u2013 the dialogues (by Aslam Parvez) are intricate and detailed, Husyn\u2019s voice is warm and intimate, and the house is filled with the sounds of a crackling fire and chirping birds — but none of this is distracting.\u00a0 Instead, everything adds details and layers to a film as perfectly etched and precious as an illuminated miniature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the winter of 1947, as the princely state of Junagadh was moving back and forth between India and Pakistan in the wake of Partition, Husyn (Naseeruddin Shah), an old, blind Muslim man and his family \u2013 his wife, Sakina (Padmavati Rao) and daughter, Noor (Rasika Dugal) \u2013 are preparing…<\/p>\n