Gadar: Ek Prem Katha

A warm film and essentially a love story.

Great music, comedy, acting, classic Sunny D action, cinematography, and an engaging story - what more can you ask for. It's one of the few Hindi movies that isn't ripping off a Hollywood film. Consistently holds up to repeated viewings.

Look for yet another superb performance by the late great Amrish Puri, look for sexy, buxom Amisha Patel, and Punjab's own Sunny Deol. This film really put him on another level, unfortunately films like Jo Bole or Hero are higher budget, but much lesser in content. This film though is one of the greatest films I've ever seen from Hindi cinema.

No one, I mean no one could have played Tara Singh better than Sunny Deol. He plays an innocent monster. Sunny was born to play this role.

Indeed, Gadar is pulp history, and it's not the best picture in its presentation of the warring sides. Set during the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition, the film tells the love story between Tara Singh, a Sikh truck driver, and Sakina, a girl coming from an aristocratic Muslim family. The film presents the atrocities of war during Partition, with particular emphasis on the Punjab riots, where Hindus and Muslims kill each other on each group's migration to their destined country (India/Pakistan). Tara, aiming to kill Muslims, is shocked to find Sakina, whom he used to know years before Partition. He takes her under his protection and gives her shelter in gratitude of her kindness to him before.

Gadar is not a historical film, but it's quite a remarkable epic film in its extraordinary entertainment value. The film is thoroughly watchable and interesting, and it keeps the viewers (well it kept me, for sure) on the edge of their seats for its entire duration. The proceedings move at a fast pace, and even more so as the story unfolds. The romantic portions are beautiful and actually quite subtly done (note the scene where Sakeena helps Tara wear his turban, or the scene where she confesses to him - wonderful). The action that follows is excellent, and their escape later on is one of the most thrilling, entertaining and well-shot sequences of its kind.

The production values in this regard are fantastic. The sets and costumes are excellently chosen to create the desired atmosphere of that era. The film's huge tonal shift from brutal riots to pure romance and marital bliss to action-packed thriller makes the entire experience into quite an exhilarating rollercoaster ride. The traditional music is wonderful, and Uttam Singh can always be counted on to deliver beautiful melodies. Yes, some of the later parts get overblown both emotionally and in terms of the portrayal of the animosity between the two sides which is really a little childish and hard to believe, but it's a movie, and it's all within the context of a mainstream Hindi film.

Sunny Deol is tremendous in the lead role. I've liked him ever since his debut back in 1983 with Betaab, and here he gives a passionate, intense performance both in the early portions where he brilliantly plays Tara's innocent shyness and wholesome personality and in the later parts where he turns into the fierce action star he is known to be. His leading lady, Amisha Patel is luminous in a beautiful performance that remains her best work to this day. I wish she made more use of her tremendous potential. Amrish Puri is excellent because he always is although his part veers into caricature, and Lillete Dubey is very good, too. Tu sum it up, Gadar is a true cinematic experience fulfilling exactly what cinema is all about in the end: entertainment. There's plenty of it here.

This is one movie I would recommend all Bhartiya people to watch & to be reminded of the horrors of partition...well made ... absolutely brilliant story line dialogues character arcs music songs start to end Goosebumps...jai ho Tara Singh.

i found this film to be biased in its portrayal of the Partition and thus cannot agree that this one can give an insight to someone who has no clue of the events of 1947.

Anil Sharma seems to have been boosting the ego of the Indian populace, or that section rather, which thinks they are so much better than their neighbor. Indeed, this film seems to suggest that the Sikhs (and by extension, perhaps the Hindus as well), are more benevolent compared to the evil Pakistanis who kill without question. then again, Tara saves Sakina only because he knew her from an earlier period and had developed feelings for her. For all its biasness, perhaps a silver lining is a scene where Sakina asks Tara why he saved her when he was out on a hunt for Muslims like the other men who were trying to capture her. On the whole, however, this film seems skewed at a time when other filmmakers are painstakingly trying to convey a notion of amity between the two warring countries.

one such film is Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi's film, Pinjar (2003). this film gives a more balanced perspective of the partition and suggests that the blame cannot be pushed to just one actor. if one needs to get a better understanding of this cataclysmic event, watch Pinjar. if one prefers to rejoice in bashing the Pakistanis for being "evil", then Gadar is something for you. But do not for one moment think that this is the story to believe. It is only a biased account which seeks to poison minds more than mend ties between people who never knew what was coming their way when they bought the national interests of their leaders.