Wagah movie review: Cross border romance which lacks conviction

Director: GNR Kumaravelan

Cast: Vikram Prabhu, Ranya Rao, Karunas

GNR Kumaravelan who gave the critically acclaimed film Haridas is back after a gap with Wagah, a cross border romance which lacks conviction.

The movie opens with a heated debate on television channel about the random killings of Indian soldiers at the Indo-Pak Kashmiri border. Many Indian soldiers from Kashmir seemed to be missing, and it is shown that Vasu (Vikram Prabhu), a BSF soldier has apparently disappeared without a trace. His family comprising of his mom (Thulasi) and dad (Raj Kapoor) residing at a village in Sivaganga district worriedly expects some news about Vasu.

The movie then goes to flashback mode where Vasu as a school boy is a day dreamer who enrolls in the NCC for the simple reason that the girl he likes was also there. And later he joins Border security Force and posted as a jawan at Indo-Pakistan border Wagah to escape his dad, who forces him to run the family grocery shop. Additionally, his cousin (Sathyan) reveals that he can get liquor at subsidized rates every day. He feels lonely at work and gets bored with the routine stuff until he comes across Khanum (Ranya Rao) and falls for her instantly.

Soon riots break out in Kashmir and section 144 is imposed. And that’s when Vasu comes to know that Khanom is actually a Pakistani who has come to India to spend few weeks with her granddad in Kashmir. When the Pakistanis on the Indian side are sent backto their own land, the onus falls on Vasu to put her back to her village safely. But all hell breaks loose when he is caught by Pakistani soldiers and lodged in their secret jail and tortured.

In a script that has a confused screenplay and with severe lack of characterisation, Vikram Prabhu could not do much even as he tries to give his best. The problem with the movie is that it neither focuses on patriotism nor on a deep and genuine romance. The dialogues are corny and outdated. Debutant Ranya is passable, as she does not have much to prove her histrionics. Her lip sync goes for a toss. Karunas in an extended cameo proves his versatility.

A disclaimer at the film’s beginning states that all the characters including the Kashmiris and Pakistanis will speak in Tamil and is a deliberate attempt to reach out the local audiences. But it has worked in reverse, adding more confusion. How would a Tamil boy converse with a Pakistani girl? And the Pakistani top army officer (Shaji Choudhary) uttering Tamil in a funny manner makes his character all the more a caricature. Imman’s background score goes well with mood of the film, but his songs are just average. Satish Kumar’s cinematography is good.