The film follows Meher, who falls for a soldier from the
"enemy side" during the war. When her love is discovered, she is
shamed and silenced by her family and society.
Thirty-eight years after the war, Meher is approached by a visitor. Sarah -- a
'war child', Meher's cousin Neela's daughter, who was given away for adoption,
is trying to put together her past. Together, these women re-tell history
through their narratives.
"'Meherjaan' zooms in on three characters. Meher was rescued by a Baloch
soldier in 1971. This soldier had denied the war. Meher's cousin Neela had been
raped by Pakistani soldiers, but instead of staying in the shadows she decides
to retaliate against social stigma and joins the freedom movement."
Criticism:
40 years after the war, when majority of Bangladeshi people are
demanding trials of 1971 war criminals and criminals against humanity
of that time, this movie is trying to bring different message to the
nation with misinterpretation of the history. Logically it seems to be
a conspiracy against the current process of brining the war criminals
to trial.
Meherjaan is a cheap love story. 1971/wartime rape victims are just
selling points of it. The heroic tragic history of the liberation war
of Bangladesh has been offended by this movie. The director of the
controversial movie is told to be studied in war-child and war victims
but it seems that she isn't quite acquainted with what happened on
ground. In her movie she depicted the fantasy of a Bangladeshi girl for
a Pakistani soldier which is quite unusual and has no ground. Knowing
the fact that the Pakistani soldiers raped thousands of Bangladeshi
women and killed them brutally, its quite offensive for the Bangladeshi
people.