'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo'

Article Updated 25 December, 2004 04:14:51 PM IST

'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo'

This is yet another film on Indo-Pak relationships. We wonder why the maker, Anil Sharma has a fascination for the subject ever since ‘Gadar’! Obviously it seems out of place today with the recently developed friendly relations between the countries. The Pakistanis helping the Indian heroes to foil the villains’ plans to sabotage the ‘Amarnath Yatra’ is an obvious attempt to paint the Pakistanis white, in keeping with the present relations between the two countries.

Vikramjit Singh (Bobby Deol), sacrifices his life for his nation while his father, Amarjeet Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), an army officer, looks on. Vikramjit’s son, Kunal (Bobby Deol in a double role), is forced to join the army by his grandfather. Years roll on. Kunal is now an army officer. However, he wants to quit the armed forces, settle abroad and make money. But love strikes him in the form of Shweta (Divya Khosla).

Unfortunately for him, she has a past. She'd been married to an army officer, Rajiv (Akshay Kumar), who had to leave for the battlefield on the day of their marriage. He is taken in the custody of Pakistani officers, headed by Danny Denzongpa. The latter obviously tries to extract information from him, but when he doesn't succeed, he tortures him ruthlessly. The confrontation scene between the two is impressive. Like in the recent Amitabh starrer, ‘Deewar’, Rajiv and the other Indian ‘Prisoners of War’ escape and manage to reach India.

Cut to Shweta and Kunal. Kunal has decided to marry Shweta. Now a human drama unfolds on screen. Shweta is torn between her husband and her love. We are not telling what happens; is the love sacrificed for the husband or vice versa? The bit where Shweta narrates her past to Kunal is interesting. She is also impressive here otherwise she doesn’t have much to do in this hero-dominated film.

Akshay Kumar has better written lines than a great screen character but plays it well nonetheless. Bobby Deol is his usual likeable self. Sakshi (Sandhali Sinha), an army doctor in love with Kunal but who never tells him about it, is impressive in places. Debutant Kapil Sharma fails to make an impact. Ditto for Aarti Chabbria. The dialogues seem clichéd and fake at times. The film loses its pace midway and the climax is disappointing. The music is strictly okay. Cinematography is outstanding but the same cannot be said about the editing. There are far too many missions undertaken that leave the audience completely confused. Can’t predict its box-office results but the masses may lap it up for its commercial elements. All in all, an uninspiring film!

Overall Rating: **

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