Gurinder Chadha’s Partition: 1947 has a perfectly timed release of 18th August 2017 1947 : Bollywood News

15th August 1947 - This is when India gained independence from the British

Gurinder Chadha’s Partition: 1947 has a perfectly timed release of 18th August 2017

15th August 2017 - India would be celebrating 70 years of independence

18th August 2017 - This is when Gurinder Chadha's Partition: 1947 would be hitting the screens

No wonder, the release time of the intense political drama couldn't have been better timed. The film arrives on the weekend when the 70th year celebrations would be on and this is exactly the time when the filmmaker wishes to unfold a few chapters that have been never been shown on the big screen before.

Informs our source, "This is clearly the best release period for the film. Partition: 1947 promises to unveil a conspiracy that was hidden inside the chapters that were seldom read out loud in front of the 'aam junta'. Yes, there have been books where there is a detailed account of what really happened when Lord Mountbatten assumed the post of the last Viceroy, with a responsibility of handing India back to its people. However, what really happened in the background during those six months leading to the partition has hardly been narrated. Gurinder Chadha aims to do that with this hard hitting film of hers."

An Indo-British collaboration, the film with an original title of Viceroy's House is being pitched as Partition: 1947 in Hindi.

"This makes sense since now the film would reach out to a much larger section of the audience," an insider comments. "Moreover, the film does feature popular faces like late Om Puri saab, Huma Qureshi, Darshan Jariwala, Denzil Smith (as Muhammad Ali Jinnah) and Neeraj Kabi (as Mahatma Gandhi). Moreover, Manish Dayal is stepping in as a male protagonist. With number of Indian faces in there, the film is now seeing a mainstream release on 18th August, courtesy Reliance Entertainment."

As for the cast from the West, Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson are playing the key roles of Lord Mountbatten and Lady Mountbatten respectively.

"They have a huge contribution to make in the film, and for the Indian audience it would be a revelation no less to know about the happenings prior to the partition. The director has made sure though that the tell-tale account is not overtly disturbing, but then it is dramatic for sure," our source adds.

One looks forward to that.