Partition: 1947 intends to unite people: Huma Qureshi

Huma Qureshi is not disconcerted by the "strong reactions" to Partition: 1947, saying the film intends to unite people and not divide them.

"Partition is a very sensitive subject. People will have strong reactions to it. It's a film about peace, about humanity. It's intended to unite people rather than divide. If some people want to say something, that's really their choice," she said on Wednesday in response to the criticism the film has garnered.

The film, which released as Viceroy's House outside India earlier this year, tells the story of India's partition. It stars Qureshi, Manish Dayal, the late Om Puri, Denzil Smith, Huge Bonneville and Gillian Anderson among others.

Of all the criticisms levelled at the film, one of the strongest has come from Pakistani writer Fatima Bhutto, granddaughter of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and niece of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

In a review, Bhutto had slammed the film for belittling leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and painting Muslims in a bad picture.The film is slated to release in India on August 18.