DEEWAR - LETS BRING OUR HEROES HOME (2004)

Producer: Gaurang Doshi
Director: Milan Luthria
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Khanna and Amrita Rao
Music: Aadesh Shrivastava
Lyrics: Nusrat Badr
Audio: T-Series

RS RATING: 6/10

Introduction:
Deewar is certainly director Milan Luthria's most ambitious project to date. The big budget movie features a massive cast, explosive storyline and some catchy music. Its little wonder expectations are pretty high…does Deewar meet them? Radio Sargam gives its verdict!

Story:
Major Ranvir Kaul (Amitabh Bachchan) and many of his men are captured by the Pakistani Army during the 1971 war and kept in various Pakistani prisons. They are treated badly, human rights are violated and the Indian army and the government have also forgotten about them.

These POWs try and escape numerous times, and many are killed in the process. The film opens with the escape of one such POW who sends a message back to the families of these POWs stating that they are alive…

Ranvir's wife (Tanuja) and her son Gaurav (Akshaye Khanna) are also waiting. When the Indian army does not agree to help them out, Gaurav sets off on a mission to rescue his father. He reaches Pakistan and stays at the house of a Pakistani Hindu Jabbar (Akhilendra Mishra) and falls in love with his pretty daughter Radhika (Amrita Rao). Jabbar helps him to a certain extent. In the meantime Ranvir Kaul and his men are transferred to another jail as the human rights activists try and locate for atrocities committed on the Indian POWS.

There they meet the evil jailor (Kay Kay) and another Indian army man Jatin Kumar (Raj Zutshi). Together they plot an escape… but are caught and a few men are killed. Although the Pakistani army try and kill another anti-social inmate Khan (Sanjay Dutt), he escapes after being saved by Gaurav.

Khan and Gaurav unite and make a plan. They steal a blueprint of the prison and strategize the flight. Khan gets arrested, reenters the prison and discusses plans of escape. Suddenly they realise that the one that they think is Jatin Kumar is not an Indian army man but a Pakistani soldier in disguise. They pre-pone the plan and escape a day before…

Critique:
The film has some great moments. It is a thorough entertainer like Milan Luthria's previous film Kachhe Dhaage, which also was an escape drama about Ajay Devgan and Saif Ali Khan escaping. Deewar is slickly paced, but has a slightly tried and tested formula. Milan Luthria's storytelling is however worth mentioning.

Amitabh Bachchan gets a hero's role after a long time. He did carry Baghban on his shoulders and carried this one too, admirably. Bachchan has not lost any of his charm and personality. Since he plays his age, the role suits well.

Sanjay Dutt is mind blowing as Khan! His eyes speak a lot in the film and his sense of comedy and timing leaves you stunned as the rare comic moments waft through the serious film.

Akshaye Khanna works hard on his role. He suits it too. His comic timing, his charismatic smile, fits the bill. The only problem is the age. He is said to be 30. And he was a small child when Amitabh Bachchan went to the war. It ahs been 33 years since the war. Which means that he had to be 35 at least. Anyway, that is left to cinematic liberty.

This film focuses on the male characters and therefor Amrita Rao hardly has scope. She is very cute, but sadly does not look like a seductress during the Piya Banwari song though she tries very hard.

Tanuja is wasted as the mother. Aditya Shrivastav as the bad Pakistani army man and Kay Kay as the evil jailor do well. They give out menacing looks and do not utter any anti-India dialogues. The film does not have any anti-Pakistan dialogues like Gadar and does not create any communal or anti national feelings.

The camerawork is nothing spectacular, but the slick editing helps the film a lot. There has been a lot of research on the script and every detail has been done well. Even the scene of a Pakistani soldier noticing the Indian matchbox in the hands of Akshaye Khanna is quite remarkably taken.

But there needs to be a thought given to not inserting songs when the pace of film is just picking up. There were people who walked out for a smoke during the Piya Banwari and the Marhaba numbers.

All in all… an entertaining project Deewar does not disappoint at all. It is a delight for many interested in watching engaging and compelling cinema.

Reviewed by: Qamar Zaman

Related Links
Audio Soundtrack
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Music Review: Deewar
Movie Stills: Deewar
Dekstop Wallpapers: Deewar
Dekstop Wallpapers: Amitabh Bachchan
Dekstop Wallpapers: Akshaye Khanna
Dekstop Wallpapers: Sanjay Dutt
Photo Gallery: Amitabh Bachchan
Photo Gallery: Akshaye Khanna
Photo Gallery: Sanjay Dutt
Discussion: Deewar Movie
Discussion: Deewar Music