Silence and the uncanny: Partition in the soundtrack ofKhamosh Pani

This essay analyzes the soundtrack of Sabiha Sumar's Punjabi film Khamosh Pani (2003). Lauded for its trenchant critique of religious fundamentalism and its sensitive portrayal of women's experiences of social and political violence, Khamosh Pani offers a feminist intervention into the historiography of Partition and the discourse on trauma and testimony, both fields that have historically disregarded the particularities of women's lives in South Asia. This essay argues that sound and music are key to the film's critical project. Khamosh Pani articulates the dangers of censorship and the power of women's silence as a mode of protest using a range of formal devices (musical, verbal, visual, narrative, and figurative). The film also evokes the violence and trauma of Partition through its use of ‘distanciated sound.’ This Brechtian strategy produces a visceral experience of the uncanny that forcefully challenges extant accounts of time, history, and communalism in South Asia.