Om Puri shared his views on Indo-Pak partition in his last interview

Legendary actor Om Puri passed away in January 2017 leaving a void amongst his fans. His last movie, Lashtam Pashtam is directed by Manav Bhalla and is all set to hit the theatres on August 10, 2018.

His last interview which was conducted by the director himself is also out in which spoke at length about his character in the film which is set amidst the backdrop of India and Pakistan.

“I play a Pakistani taxi driver. An Indian who is lost in Pakistan and wishes to go to Islamabad, which is burning due to bomb blasts, asks my character to take him there. The taxi driver (Om Puri) refuses him but the youngster is so desperate that anyhow he has to go to Islamabad. Though that youngster is an Indian, the taxi driver decides to help him despite knowing that there is a lot of risks,” he said.

When asked about the message he wants to give through this film, the late actor shared, “My character itself is giving out a message. Manav has written it in such a way that tells people that hatred should end as it has no specific reason and we are fighting forcefully. We are all humans and we have stayed together for years. Mughal rulers stayed here for almost 600 years. Before independence, we all stayed together, we have learned from all the etiquettes (tehzeeb). Yes, there have been some issues but like there is a dialog in the film that issues happen at home also, amongst Hindu brothers also and also amongst the relatives.”

“When the Partition happened, brothers thought that let one brother stay this side and other on the other side and this won’t change much as they can anytime come on each other’s side. But they never thought the situation would become so bad. So this partition was the partition of relationships, emotions, and feelings and it’s a really painful thing,” he added stressing stressed on the sacrifices both the countries have made since partition.

Watch the interview below: