tsr@ctnews.UUCP (02/06/86)
I have watched the two episodes on Lord Mountbatten aired till now on PBS and have to agree with the views of the others on the net - The whole issue of partition and independence has been simplified to the point where it seems quite ludicrous. All the Indians who were involved in the negotiations have been made to look like school children after a bar of candy, whereas in reality they realized fully well the situation they were in and bargained that way. Patel (who I consider to be the architect of modern India) was an esp- ecially shrewd and able man and played a major part in the negotiations, but turned up in only one or two scenes and, even then, almost as an extra. If the reason for this was that the series was about the people during that period, the producers have failed again. All I saw emotion wise was an almost grumpy Mountbatten, the usual portrayal of a do gooder wife in Lady Edwina, a stone faced Nehru and a Lady Macbethesque Jinnah, not to mention a buffoon like version of Mahatma Gandhi. Overall one cannot help but get the feeling that what the director is trying to say is that the British were doing India a favor by granting her independence, which is as silly as the theme of the last series on India , A Jewel in the Crown, and that is that the Brits were a caring and sensitive lot.