Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey

It may be not a good movie or i would say justice was not done with the production but somehow it made me to write few words for this. Why? The question is simple as well as the answer. I am always a fan of all these freedom fighters who always kept the spark. Many people consider Ghandi and Jinnah for the Indo-pak freedom but i whole heartedly believe it were the people like Surey sen, whom ideas were the main cause of todays free India and Pakistan. The list is full of heroes, whom we are proud today. Being a Pakistani i always have a great respect for all those great freedom fighters because of whom we are enjoying the independence today. Bhagat Singh, Surya sen, Bakht Khan, Mangal panday are all portrayed beautifully in the movies.

Yet an unsung hero is still to show up on a big screen, The brave Pathan freedom fighter Sher Ali Afridi who killed the Indian viceroy, Lord Miyo. This was the only unique case of killing a viceroy on Indian soil. I wish if his life story is taken in a movie depiction.

Over all the movie gives you a good feel of that times freedom struggle. I still recommend the movie as its watchable and touchy.

The intermission of this nearly three hour film serves as an automatic marker at how Gowariker planned the narrative, the first half being the introduction, characterization and planning stage that we get to witness going behind any schemes of this nature of an armed struggle, where the definition of whether one is a terrorist or freedom fighter, is naturally decided in context by the victor in history. A lot of time goes into establishing the character of Masterda Surya Sen, played by Abhishek Bachchan as the school teacher who indoctrinates his class, and other followers of his exploits, into the need to drive the British out and to attain freedom for India, starting with Chittagong (present day located in Bangladesh).

In some ways this film has shed some light that those who persist in armed struggles, never really changed the essence of their modus operandi much. It starts off with a charismatic leader and his ideology, a band of faithful followers, and a mass recruitment of those who have faced the wrong end of oppression, eager to join the cause to exact some form of revenge, now elevated to a greater struggle for something way above the petty personal objectives. We observe how resources get assembled, from the raising of funds through whatever means possible, even if it means in kind instead of cash.

Target surveillance becomes the must do as well in order to prepare for that strategic attacks, and from what we can learn from history, simultaneous attacks on key targets isn't something that's conceived in the new era, but has been used a long time back, with the revolutionaries keeping in mind the importance of timing, and to hit places controlling communications, weapons depot, and of course the places where the foreigners congregate. There's this sense of chill when watching the film, because these are lessons obviously not learnt, and it's about time we wise up to see that the jungle too serves as an attractive training ground away from prying eyes and ears either to train on weapon handling, or to assemble explosives.

But for the gripping set up, the second half turned out to be somewhat of a letdown, and I do not mean what had actually happened in history, which of course cannot be changed lest this film becomes a farce. There were enough elements here that made it the action packed second half it was meant to be, with the firing of weapons and the proverbial Murphy paying the revolutionaries a visit and really screwing up their plans. All these translated to edge of your seat excitement worthy of any thriller, and we see how the execution of the plan turn the perpetrators from hunters into prey.

A lot of things got muted in the movie, which is something not quite typical of an Ashutosh Gowariker film. Known for the opulence and grandeur of his productions, this one seemed a little bit toned down and stripped down to reflect the state of the revolutionaries, being required to work with bare minimum resources, and with faulty intelligence as well, being caught off guard in their plans, especially the more critical factors in ammunition and prisoners / hostages. It's quite back to basics for Gowariker, whom I felt if given the allowance for a longer runtime like almost all his previous works, could have told a more complete and robust story.

Abishek Bachchan performed credibly as the legendary historical character, although the storyline, in having a number of notable revolutionaries to focus on, tended to dilute the importance of his character, and hence an opportunity for him to shine. Deepika Padukone plays Kalpana Dutta, also another historical character, and the much talked about scene is of her character playing badminton in her introduction was relatively short to begin with. The actress continues to be paired opposite big name counterparts, but is able to hold her own without being awed. There's some romantic tension between the two lead characters here, though it served more as a distraction and soon got canned before it even had the chance to start.

As it stands, most of the last act turned out to be quite rushed, with fairly little being given to characterization, opting instead for quick resolution often through action sequences which do get tired after a while. Englishmen all play the token bad guys, and we don't see a lot as to how nasty they actually are, as compared to the oppression dished out by those portrayed in Lagaan. The courtroom drama also seemed to be cursory rather than to provide for a platform, and lacked the usual legalese oomph to have made an impact to an audience, having everything seem a little bit routine, well, even if it may be true in real life. Music by Sohail Sen, who had worked on the previous Gowariker film What's Your Rashee, is commendable, especially its rousing themes that will get to grow on you.

This is Ashutosh Gowariker's equivalent of Braveheart or any other freedom fighters' struggle to gain freedom for their motherland, but we could all have benefited from a little bit more of walking around inside Masterda Surjya Sen and going deeper into his beliefs and motivation. While it's still an epic scale and its presentation of the opening credits mimics that of epic greats, it somehow didn't manage to live up to its potential that we know Gowariker is capable of, and this is coming from a fan.

Ashutosh Gowariker is a talented Storyteller. His Oscar-Nominated Epic-Hit 'Lagaan' was amongst the best films of it's time, 'Swades' was a touching film, that has now become a cult-classic. 'Jodhaa Akbar' was another milestone he churned out. 'What's Your Raashee?', however was a letdown.

'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey', also isn't Gowariker, at his best. This period piece/patriotic has a strong first hour, but a long & weak second hour, spoil it's impact.

Based on the Chittagong Uprising of 1930, 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey' tells the story of Surjya Sen, a prominent Bengali freedom fighter, an Indian independence activist and the chief architect of anti-British freedom movement in Chittagong, Bengal, who, with his people created a revolution, that eventually let India get independence.

As mentioned, the first hour is absolutely terrific. The entire build-up to the revolution keeps you at the grip. But, the second hour plays a spoilsport. Also, the excessive running-time of over 3 hours, needed some trimming. Even the climax for that matter, doesn't leave the desired impact.

Ashutosh Gowariker knows his job, and he has proved his caliber as a filmmaker time and again. He directs each frame with the accurate detail, but the weak writing in the second hour, pulls him down. Cinematography is outstanding! Editing needed to be sharper. Music by Sohail Sen is passable.

Performance-Wise: Abhishek is efficient as Surjya Sen. Deepika Padukone does an okay job. Sikander Kher is fair, while Vishakha Singh is sincere. Mahinder Singh is good. Shreyas Pandit is flawless. Others lend good support.

On the whole, A One-Time Watch, that could've been much more, if it had a better second hour.

People r complaining about the length of the movie.....movie being bore.....what they expected from this movie???? a 90 minutes fast paced brainless comedy.....as far as i m concerned i expected a engaging,gripping depiction of a true story about a incident in history of independence of India which is not very well known to most of the public....and i was not disappointed.... In fact movies of this genre are meant to be made in this way....they take there time to narrate various incidents.Various Hollywood movies like Schindlers List, The pianist etc were the movies of same genre telling the true stories from the history and there running time was more than KHJJS and they are regarded as all time masterpieces in west but unfortunately the same type of effort in our country will be stated as lame and boring. This a must watch movie for all the cine goers who prefer meaningful,informative and gripping cinema..... 8.5/10

This movie is definitely an eye opener for those who think that Bollywood is the place of brainless comedies , over hyped romances & sensationalized media exposure , because this movie opens our eyes to a struggle never heard before.

I myself have heard about Surya Sen's freedom struggle , only in class VIIIth standard , when I decided to go deep into it . Through Internet , I heard about this struggle being converted into a great film , "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey." It's another masterpiece of Ashutosh sir , but sadly in India , we don't have creativity & the readiness to accept change & like , Swades , a great masterpiece of India , is ignored by all .

What is the similarity between "The King's Speech" & this movie ? Both were based on historical events. While the former was based on the battle of King George VIth with his speech problem , the latter was based on the Great Chittagong Armory Raid in 1930 , but both the films had different fates.

While King ruled the Oscars , Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey failed to ring the cash registers at the box office. But leaving the negativities of Bollywood , a supreme hats off to Ashutosh sir !!