Oct 27, 2008 03:11 PM
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(Updated Oct 27, 2008 03:11 PM)
One thing to keep in mind before going for Heores-it’s not a war film on the lines of Lakshya, LOC or Border. The film has no war or battle scenes and hardly any action. The film deals more with the people of the defence forces-the real HEROES of our country. It’s a story about them, their family and what happens to their loved ones after they perish at the battlefield.
The story of the movie: Sammy (Sohail Khan) and Ali (Vatsal Seth) are childhood friends, based in Delhi. When they fail to graduate from the filmmaking institute, the principal tells them to make a graduate film in order to secure their degree. As a part of their assignment, they had to travel to three different places in North India to deliver the letters of three soldiers who died in Kargil War to their families. Sammy and Ali felt they would kill two birds with one stone-they would deliver the letters and shoot their film and at the same time, have an exciting and adventurous time. But little did they know that this road trip will change their lives forever.
Heroes consists of three tracks. The first track (Salman-Preity) takes the viewers to the sprawling lush, green fields of Punjab. The plus-point of this track was that it was slow but doesn’t drag and gets boring. It was well-handled but it wasn’t rich in emotions. Audiences fail to relate with the characters. Nevertheless, it made for an interesting watch.
The second track (Sunny-Bobby) was great, thanks to Sunny’s powerpacked performance! What’s most interesting about this track is Sunny’s character Vikram Shergill-he used to live alone, he had lost his brother Dhananjay (Bobby Deol) and he was also physically handicapped for life-yet he had no regrets. He was proud that his brother died a hero’s death. And he believed in living life to the fullest. It was surely an excellent track and remains etched in one’s memory for a long time.
The final track (Dino Morea-Mithun Chakraborthy) dragged a lot yet it was the most touching of all the three tracks. It was high on emotional quotient and its culmination may leave you moist-eyed! It was a winner for the director!
Through these tracks, the film succeeds in invoking a sense of patriotism and also making us feel proud of the armymen who are protecting this country full of billion people. It also justifies that laying down your life for the country is an act of pride-we are going to die one day anyway; so why not die by doing something for our motherland?
On the flipside, the film’s impact and effect on the viewers is limited. Due to the sluggish pace and some songs, the film’s impact gets delegated. I feel the film Tango Charlie (which also had Bobby Deol) made a much better and lasting impact. Tango Charlie also dealt with the soldiers and the horrors they had to face in the battlefield. It was more of a war film but in the end the film, like Heroes, saluted the soldiers of our country. If only Heroes would have been like Tango Charlie, it would be a masterpiece!
Since Heroes has such a huge talented star cast, it’s impossible to judge who the best performer was. But the one who really deserve applause are Sunny, Salman, Preity, Vatsal Sheth, Dwij Yadav and Mithun! Sunny Deol comes up with yet another powerful performance! With such a wonderful job, he proves that he’s still one of the best! His action scene may look absurd to some, but it was innovative and was a treat to watch! Salman Khan impresses with his pagdi and bearded look. He was brilliant in his entry scene. Preity Zinta does a wonderful job in such an offbeat role. The way she spoke Punjabi fluently is worth appreciating. Much was written about her that she works only for Johars and Chopras and does only goodie-goodie roles. With Heroes and Deepa Mehta’s Heaven On Earth (where again she plays a battered Punjabi housewife), she has proved that she is one of the finest actresses that we have here in Bollywood.
Vatsal Sheth was impressive in Taarzan. He even did a great job in Nanhe Jaisalmer, though he was there only for a scene. He does an equally good job in Heroes too. He gets ample footage in the film and he doesn’t disappoint even once. Let’s hope we get to see him more often. Sohail Khan also played his part perfectly and was funny too. However, he didn’t look like a 20-21 year old at all. Dwij Yadav (the kid in Nanhe Jaisalmer) again comes up with a brilliant performance. He’s a powerhouse of talent! Mithun Chakraborthy was first-rate. Dino Morea was likeable. Bobby Deol acted confidently. However, he was there for no more than 5 minutes.
Prateeksha Lonkar as Dino’s mother played her part beautifully. Mohnish Behl was perfect. Vivek Shauq was funny. The film also had three actresses-Riya Sen, Amrita Arora and Hrishitaa Bhatt. All three did a good job and all of them were wasted and hardly had anything to do in the film or with the film’s goings-on!
Sajid-Wajid and Monty’s music was good. ‘Mannata’ and ‘Makhna’ were the best. Barring ‘Mannata’ and ‘What’s Up My Bro’, all other songs were unnecessarily added, especially ‘Badmash Launde’!
Binod Pradhan and Gopal Shah’s cinematography was undoubtedly flawless. The beautiful locales of Punjab, Himachal and Leh-Ladakh were wonderfully shot by these two experts. Abbas Ali Moghul and Peter Hain’s action was great, especially in Sunny Deol’s fight sequence.
Samir Karnik and Aseem Arora wrote the story, dialogues and screenplay for the film. Both of them deserve a pat for choosing such a subject for a film. The story and dialogues were brilliant. Screenplay was engrossing but ineffective at some places.
Samir Karnik had earlier directed Kyun! Ho Gaya Na and Nanhe Jaisalmer. While the former was a disaster, the latter was watchable. But with Heroes, Samir Karnik has definitely evolved as a fine filmmaker. Though the film has some glitches, the film overall is a good one and Samir certainly did a great job!
Some of the best scenes of the film:
1. The first scene of the movie
2. Sohail, Vatsal, Preity and Sunny’s entry
3. Sohail reading Salman’s letter to Preity
4. Sohail and Vatsal at the Indo-Pak border
5. The entire Sunny-Bobby track including the action scene
6. Dino’s mother playing Dino’s cassette (excellent scene!)
7. The rugby match
8. The last scene of the film
On the whole, Heroes is a well-made film. It’s a great emotional saga and succeeds in making us proud of our country and armymen. A must for those who love patriotic films and want to see hatke films!
My rating-*** ½
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