This is the main problem. Mehta's treatment is too simplistic; her characters too wooden, unfleshed out. As Dil Nawaz and Shanta bibi stand watching the rioting crowds, Nawaz suddenly turns to Shanta, asking her to marry him and curb his hatred. Stop the lion raging in his chest from leaping out. This is supposedly the definitive moment in the film. Shanta refuses. A scene or two later, when Dil Nawaz sees her copulating with Hasan, the trapdoor lifts; the lion is unleashed. But Mehta hasn't bothered to prime Aamir's character for the powerful transition from crude, but jolly, ice-candy man to murderous, communal battle-axe. The moment passes unnoticed; the audience, unmoved, continues to sip Coke, yo-yoing between cliches.