Guru Nanak Jahaz

Director Sharan Art has made sure to keep the film honest and grounded. The writing, by Harnav Bir Singh and Sharan Art, is thoughtful. The dialogues are strong and meaningful, and they stay with you long after the movie ends. The cinematography by Jaype Singh is beautiful. The frames and scenes feel real and well-researched. The way the film shows the period—clothes, ships, streets, and even the silence—gives you an understanding of that time. Its music is another highlight. The songs match the situations perfectly. They are emotional, not forced, and add a lot to the mood of the film. The background score by Kevin Roy George helps you feel the tension and hope in various scenes. The film moves at a slow pace, and some scenes feel stretched and tend to get boring. But, thankfully, the message is not lost.

The sepia tint, muted colours, hair and make-up, draw from photographs of the incident to faithfully reproduce it on the big screen. Different Punjabi accents capture the diversity of the passengers from various parts of undivided Punjab and it is these nuances that make the film stand out. While Guru Nanak Jahaz draws aces in terms of its research and immersiveness, it does not fare as well in the screenplay department. Written by Harnav Bir Singh and Sharan Art, the narrative gets too caught up in being faithful to history, sacrificing an engaging narrative at its altar. The film becomes entangled in the nitty-gritty of the actual developments, failing to provide many dramatic moments that will keep audiences engaged throughout the film. Mewa Singh’s character too needed to be better fleshed out.