What a way to kick off the celebration of Independence Day! Great patriotic fervour. India needs to know and it sure is privileged to be watching this unique coming together of art, patriotism and the human spirit. Kudos to Anil Sharma for returning to the box office with such a bang, literally. The “Genius” director’s ‘elaan-e-jung’ with the enemy country is a piece of cinema. Interestingly, it has started receiving the approval of the masses at the box-office. Like the precursor that ran alongside ‘Lagaan’, this, too, promises to give Anil Sharma the unique space he so truly has earned for himself. This three-hour treatise on the Pakistan war of 1971 is a sound display of what commitment and love for the country can do.
If there be a film that should have started with an award of a Param Vir Chakra to the father and son, and then the camera (digital obviously) ought to have reeled out the various dimensions of the saga of human strength, commitment and obstinate focus at all times on the pride for the country.
Remember the historic ‘Gadar Ek Prem Katha’. An entire generation missed out that great film more than two decades ago. You can’t keep love and national flavour away from the generation of patriots whose love for Bharat is so intense that the post-Gadar generation managed to upgrade their cinematic experience by watching it on OTT. For the fractional know-nots, Anil Sharma gives an odd peep into Version I and adds to the cruel jurisprudence of the neighbouring country that ensures the execution of capital punishment to Ashraf Ali (Amrish Puri – the last performance!!). However, far away from the hate-filled politics of the neighbour, Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) and Sakeena (Ameesha Patel) are living their love story in a prosperous happy Bharat. Pappa Tara Singh is a tad slap-happy and unhesitatingly uses the “dhai kilo ka haath” on the equally loving warm-headed patriotic Punjabi fun-loving son in Charanjeet (Utkarsh Sharma) who comes with a double whammy: Papa on screen (Sunny) and real (Anil Sharma).
As the family in all its warmth and oozing affection is depicting that it is a “khaate-peete” parivar, the enemy personified on the other side is breeding hatred and brandishing revenge. Major General Hamid Iqbal (Manish Wadhwa) is preparing to unleash his Project Vendetta. Of course, as ever, there is the whisper of war between peace-loving India and war-dependant neighbour. The local Army personnel recruit Tara Singh to carry a consignment to the border.
Top Army officers and the people carrying the cargo are taken prisoner by the Pakistani officer. Tara and Sakeena are again border-challenged. The trauma of Sakeena is portrayed in an Ameesha Patel special style. The pathos is doubly insured with a melody playing in the background – ‘Phir teri ishq (Neeti Mohan-Vishal Mishra)’ — with Tara et al lodged in Kot Lakhpat Jail. Sunny’s son Charanjeet — Jeete — “infiltrates” into enemy territory. Needless to mention, but important to state, the administration there is vicious and spreading hate against anything India. They don’t even trust locals who have a good word for the Indian system.
The intelligent Jeete manages to hoodwink Pakistan immigration officials and is given shelter by Gulkhan (Mushtaq Khan). Never mind the names we would call him if someone did that in India. Not that, for now, and back to 1971 Pakistan. To carry things further we have the bad Pakistani fighting for his country arrayed against the patriotic Indian as Mission Pappe. Another problem there is that very few good Pakistanis are willing to help infiltrating Indians. Also, this Singh family is genetically inclined to gals from Pakistan. Very soon, Jeete has a love story with the local lass Muskaan (Simrat Kaur). For this family the lesson they learn from history is that they do not learn! So, all set for inter-border love, intra-border turmoil.
Now the intelligence in Pakistan is searching for Jeete and Pappe. All the local folk have to handle the twosome who are at large and a huge challenge to the Pakistan army.
The Pakistan army is confronted with two major challenges: Mukti Bahini and the Jeete-Pappe duo. With a single family so dedicated to the welfare of our country, we should have a justifiable permanent seat in Parliament for them. Pappa, Mamma, Beta…. The twosome also take to the eternal haunting melody ‘Ghar aya pardesi’, which is as melodious as ‘Aaja re pardesi’ or ‘Ayega, ayega, ayega aane wala’. While Pakistan on the one hand is gunning for Singh I and Singh II, the twosome is busy giving their lungs good exercise and presenting the Gadar anthem on their way back home. Despite a massive hunt, the musical, vocal, brawn-branded twosome not only reach Bharat’s border, speak of the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war, but also give the enemy Major General on the prowl a run for his money.
The long narrative of the twosome on the run constitutes the major part of the film. Not all the pack Majors can put Humpty Dumpty back in prison.
This is the most unpretentious film. Patriotism can be demanding and can challenge you – which includes films of a kind. This high-adrenaline high-pitched deafening-decibel take on Pakistan vs Indians is amusing to watch more so in the midst of the accolades from the appreciative, patriotic cosmopolitan city-bred viewers glued to their seats and in awe of the thoroughbred patriots.
Sunny Deol is in his zone. Hours after you have had the patriotic discourse, his voice is still ringing in your ears. Some lung power. The rest don’t matter. Actually, nothing matters. We live in an era of the Super Patriot and the eagerness to go for him!! As we say locally: Mauka bhi hai, dastoor bhi. Independence Day! Wow! If not now, when else.
Cast: Sunny Deol, Nana Patekar, Amrish Puri, Ameesha Patel, Utkarsh Sharma, Manish Wadhwa, Simrat Kaur
Direction: Anil Sharma
