Variegated Qissa: (Divided) landscape of (multiple) longings

This short, reflective article explores the settings of Qissa (Singh, 2013), written by the director and the author. By framing the plot in a fable-like spiral narrative mode, the aim of Qissa was to look back at (and beyond) post-partition narratives. By referring to the original screenplay and shooting-stills, this article draws attention to the ways in which ambivalent spaces are produced, and illustrates the ‘to-ing and fro-ing between specific geographical locales and human imagination’. Indeed, if Laura Marks writing about the haptic (and multi-sensory experience) has argued about ‘intercultural’ cinema with reference to diaspora encounters, I revisit Qissa in relation to Gurvinder Singh’s Anhey Ghorey Da Daan (2011) to (re)consider in what way Anup Singh’s film fashions new cinematic terrains, and re-presents Punjab through extensive location shooting.