Children of War

"A dark masterpiece"! That is all what I can say about this movie. A ruthless, cruel, violent graphical depiction of the almost forgotten 1971 genocide happened in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) by Pakistani Army where almost 3 million people were killed and 4 lakh women were raped. It is hard to believe this is Mrityunjay Devvrat's debut film! This movie is not for the faint hearted, the "A" really means something here. Forget about the other horrific torture on human being, sudden scenes like two pakistani soldiers are casually shooting cows as they loose a bet or the captured women prisoners are thrown out from the trucks like unused materials will send shiver down your spine. It is unthinkable how absolute power can bring us down so low and human can perform such unthinkable acts to other fellow human being in the name of country, religion, language. I have never seen such brutal and explicit depiction of rape after "Bandit Queen", a weapon used by pakistani Army to destroy the morale of common men. Indranil, Raima,Tilottoma were OK, Victor was impressive in a small role and Farooq Seiq was very good as an undercover leader of one of the Muktiyodha(Freedom figher) gang. RIP Farooq Seikh sir, we will miss you. However for me the superstars were Rafiq and his sister Kausar (I forgot to note their actual names, sorry about that), the protective brother and elder sister, what a performance they have given! And yes, Pavan malhotra as the cruel Pakistani general is really outstanding, he, in some cases reminded me of Stoph Waltz who played the infamous SS Col. Hans Landa in the movie "Inglorious Basterds". In the movie we have three stories running in parallel (Raima-Indranil, a journalist and his wife whose lives were massacred by the Pak army, a brother and sister who are the only survivors in their village and Victor who is trying to lead his villagers to a safe place and of course the freedom movement) which finally will merge. The background score was also fine. This movie is not for the masses, so it will definitely not do a good business in box office, but certainly will be appreciated in many forums. 8/10 from me.

I have seen CHILDREN OF WAR and stayed captivated, focused on it. it took me days to get rid of the atmosphere of the film. I am shamed I didn't know anything about the History of the birth of Bangladesh, about these 400 000 ladies raped for months. It is very violent, but not really ON the screen, everything is suggested, i was touched deeply about the story of these ladies i couldn't sleep for days. I think the world should learn about this. In 1971, the U.S was in the Hippies movement, dancing, taking drugs, enjoying life while such horrible things where happening! The director was able to mix delicateness & violence, hope & desperation, cruelty & love. It is a master piece movie, a kind of film that gives all its nobles to what we call CINEMA as an ART: transcending, informing, transporting to Human deep philosophical questions. Thanks to all this great team to have been able to achieve such a great film! (sorry my English is not so good as i am a french citizen)

Any interpretation or depiction of any war or acts of terror is extremely hard and tough for director to showcase in cinematic form. Question always is how little its too much and Mrityunjay Devvrat's  has done an excellent job of that in his debut movie.

Children of war is graphical beautiful depiction of the almost forgotten 1971 genocide happened in East Pakistan. The scenes to tend to get uncomfortably gory and long and I would think that the movie overall would have benefited from a shorter script. It's a long depressing watching genocides for more than two hours.

Sadly, enough the 1971 genocides have been forgotten and most of the younger generation are clueless about the sufferings. The movie could have benefited if they had put some context for today's generation.

The actors are par excellent and all have done an excellent job. I especially was fascinated by Pawan Malhotras evil, cruel, ruthless Pakistani General. Pawan finally got an opportunity to show his true talent.

Director has done an amazing job for first time holding the baton and I really look forward to seeing more movies from him.

Music score was OK but little too loud and took away from the moments at times.

The movie would have done lot better if it was shorter and crisper.

It is a fantastic film. Very gripping and moving.

It is beautifully shot. Every single song is top-notch. Simply amazing.

Very well researched and well made. The parallel storylines work incredibly well together. It is good to see an Indian film on 1971 which shows something apart from the military glory of India.

Totally a must watch.

Not many film-makers have dared to make a film on 1971's Bangladesh war of independence, showcasing those nine long months of untold brutal killings, rapes, painful sufferings and hatred spread over the region resulting in a big genocide. The subject no doubt remains controversial involving the Pakistan military till date and therefore debutant director Mrityunjay Devrat truly deserves appreciation for making this extremely difficult choice of subject for his very first film boldly.

However as far as the execution is concerned, at one end he positively displays a fine understanding of the subject, shot taking, ambiance and the art of extracting good performances from the cast skillfully. But on the other, falls short of creating the desired impact, missing the basic soul of the film, which has to be a focused, well written script delivering the content impressively. So, yes the film does score at various levels as a rare attempt in the War-genre, yet it fails to emotionally connect with the viewer largely, despite being based on a shocking & eye-opener theme of Bangladesh's struggle for freedom.

Revolving around four fictional stories of that particular nine months connecting with each other, we have a journalist turning into a revolutionary after his wife's rape and kidnap, taking her into a prisoner's camp. A brother & sister, trying to cross the border into India, an old man leading his fellow villagers towards a safe passage and a rebel leader planning hidden attacks on Pakistani military men through his small revolutionary group. Beginning with an actual video footage of Mrs. Indira Gandhi (then Prime Minister of India), the film straight goes into the interconnected stories without properly explaining the basic premise of the massacre in any details (through a voice over or else). And this is what causes a big confusion in the minds of the young viewers who are not actually familiar of the shameful history in details. Incidentally I felt the same while hearing the whispers among some youngsters sitting on my adjoining seat, who were not at all aware of any of the names taken in the film like Mukti Bahini, Bhutto and Yahya Khan.

So the less (or no) explanation of the factors actually responsible for the war becomes the first hindrance in the path of making a direct connect with the viewers. Plus it's the painfully long duration crossing 160 minutes of bloody sequences which becomes too much after a while, ruining its overall impact and seriousness altogether. Moreover, there is an imbalance visible in the chosen cast too wherein Pavan Malhotra, Raima Sen, Tillotama Shome and Riddhi Sen are exceptional in their respective roles but Victor Bannerjee is unable to leave an impact along with Indraneil Sengupta &Rucha Inamdar looking less intense and involved than required. Also the veteran Late Farooque Shaikh seems to be a complete misfit in the role of a violent rebel.

In short, "CHILDREN OF WAR - Nine Months To Freedom" certainly has an important message to give through some of its upsetting; emotional sequences depicting the ruthless crimes committed against the innocent people, particularly the women. But unfortunately the film also suffers hugely due to a lengthy-uninteresting flow, weak script and inexpressive narration unable to convey the core message convincingly. It has some earnest performances well canned by a noteworthy cinematography, but also has a loud background score incorporating a rock feel unnecessarily. In other words the film is horrifically tense (working in parts), yet lacks the real depth which has to be the key feature of movies made on such thoughtful themes of War Crimes.

And I seriously wish it had that satisfying execution to leave an everlasting impact (as generated by its promo), since similar war crimes are being committed even in 2014 (as per the latest news of Boko Haram) and many are still unaware of such humiliating, inhuman acts..........., living their own unaffected lives in the other parts of the world happily.