Heroes

Heroes does have a good premise, but as a whole it is a waste of a good story. This is because Samir Karnik insists making it the old way, with lots of drama, exaggeration and highly unconvincing action scenes. To think of two guys travelling huge distances to meet three different families of slain soldiers and surprise them with letters written by the soldiers before their death during the Kargil war, sounds very promising, but the way the subject is handled is just so amateur old fashioned. This relates in particular to the two last chapters of the three, with Sunny Deol and Mithun Chakraborty, who lost a brother and a son, respectively. As moving as it was, this just didn't work because of flawed direction. The first chapter, however, is a true redeeming quality, which at times even seems to have been made or written by someone else, not that it's perfect in or by itself. Salman Khan and Preity Zinta have brilliant chemistry together, and the part is handled quite sensitively, in addition to having one beautiful song called "Mannata". This, sadly, turns out to be the only truly moving part of the movie, and sadly so, because the concept is most novel, and it's got many famous stars who could have made something out of it. Unfortunately, Karnik cannot really save the film from being uninspiring (though, as said, in parts it is), which is sad because this is clearly its main goal.

Speaking of stars and inspiration, there's one saving grace in Heroes, and it's a huge one because acting-wise, none comes close to Preity Zinta. As Kuljeet Kaur, the young and lonely widow, Zinta utterly steals the show with an amazing performance which is not only the best in the film, but one of the finest of that year in Hindi movies. Her Punjabi dialect is brilliant, but more than that, it is her subtle, understated and authentic portrayal of Kuljeet's anguish, resilience and strength, which stays with you after the show is over (in spite of the fact that, naturally, she does not have a lot of screen time). Her presence alone speaks volumes. It's sad that this inspiring act is wasted in such an average film, but happily, her episode on its own is very good to be worthy of a second watch. Salman Khan is also very effective and natural and fits the role well enough. Mithun Chakraborty is always good, but Sunny Deol is a disappointment. Bobby Deol and Dino Morea are quite okay. Vatsal Sheth and Sohail Khan are not important characters and they do not really word well together, but they are lively enough even though Sohail is sadly but expectedly just not convincing enough. Anyway, Heroes is an average movie with some good moments, namely the first episode and Preity Zinta's performance. Watch only the first one, you may want to proceed, at your own cost.

It breaks my heart to give a 5 star rating to this film. Again like many other Bollywood movies, this one had great potential. The story was new and the movie boasted of such a terrific star cast in Salman Khan, Preity Zinta, Sunny Deol and Mithun da. I would like to request bollywood directors to please never cast Salman again as a Sardar because he did not suited the Surd image at all. He did not looked like a sikh for one moment. And I really fail to understand that why has Sunny Deol to be portrayed as Hulkesque in every movie. Breaking ground with his punches, fighting 15-20 guys despite being a handicap come on.... give us a break. Alright he is strong, he terrorized the entire Pakistan in Gadar, but guys get over it. Let him be a normal man again. Otherwise, the story was good, and I felt that this movie could have had a Rang de Basanti kind of impact. I wish that it would have been made better with some more emotional quotient. This could have been the movie of the year, but bollywood being bollywood, made it what it is. Its alright, we are getting there slowly but still getting there (Hollywood level).

When someone mentions the phrase " anti war film " it sums up many images . Perhaps it may involve good Germans doing their duty for the nation state which has been hijacked by genocidal maniacs and both CROSS OF IRON and DAS BOOT spring instantly to mind . It may involve teenage GIs fighting and dying in the jungles of South East Asia . We all have our favourite anti war films . Indeed my own favourite film of all time is APOCALYPSE NOW while my all time favourite documentary is Morgan Matthews 2008 gut wrenching , heartbreaking tribute to the British war dead from the war on terror THE FALLEN . HEROES is another anti war film featuring the aftermath of the Kargil war between India and Pakistan . The problem is that it's a Bollywood movie which means we're subjected to shoehorning song and dance numbers between the poignant moments

Actually I'm lying slightly because there are no poignant moments . There are clichéd moments , stilted moments and just plain boring moments . In fact it's impossible to understand what the point of the film is: war is hell ? Thanks we all knew that already but the story is impossible to take seriously . We see a Sihk being interviewed on TV where he makes a rambling speech about the good old days when emperors and kings would face each other man to man ( Hmmm wouldn't that be a court martial offence ? ) A airforce pilot in a wheelchair ( No don't ask how he was crippled for life because it's never revealed ) and worst of all the story revolves around a couple of conchie pacifist students who after delivering death letters to the families of the bereaved become patriots of the motherland with the greatest of respect for the nation's fighting man . None of this is ever convincing in any shape or form

There is one thing that makes HEROES watchable and that is the music and choreography . Fair enough , like a great many of other Bollywood movies the singing and dancing can be very hit and miss and this film is no different Some of the musical numbers don't work but when they do such as the show stopping Makhana number they work very well . Such a pity the song and dance jar with the very serious subtext of young men dying in battle and of the grief this leaves behind

This season again we witness a movie on a plot inspired from the western cinema. "Heroes" is based on a theme borrowed from "The Motorcycle Diaries", where two friends are on a fun tour and their experiences in the journey change their outlook towards life. The good part about the Indian adaptation is that we have a patriotic feel introduced in the plot which makes it more inspiring and entertaining. "Heroes" is a good attempt as it has some well shot sequences and good acting by the famous faces, but it has its weaknesses too. The director Samir Karnik has done a far better job if compared with his earlier offerings. First I would like to take the good things about the movie. The story revolves around three letters to be delivered by the lead duo to the families of military men who have sacrificed their lives in the war. Sohail Khan and Vatsal Sheth are the two men who are on the journey and they have to do this task as their film-making assignment to be submitted. So they are also shooting their experiences on the way. Out of these three stories interwoven in the script, the first one with the Punjabi flavor is the best, second about two brothers is OK and the third one is the weakest with only one well shot sequence.

The first story with the Punjab background has Priety Zinta and Salman Khan playing Sikh characters. Sikhism seems to be the current craze in Bollywood and after "Singh Is King" every second project has something to offer in this direction, trying to cash the same. The top most performance in the movie is by Priety Zinta as the quite but strong women ready to fight the world alone. Salman Khan plays the tough guy, does a good job, but I couldn't understand why he is made to speak a language which is neither Hindi nor Punjabi. The dialogues sound awful in the half baked lingo and could have been better. The child actor playing their son is good and confident. Salman Khan as a Sikh military man, looks smart and tough. This is the best part of the movie on a novel theme.

The second story is about two brothers Sunny Deol & Bobby Deol serving the country. Sunny is in Air force and Bobby guarding the ground in Armed forces. It's worth watching seeing the two reel & real life brothers fighting over which force serves the country best. Here Sunny Deol tries hard to portray a man who has lost his legs in war, but as usual he can still fight with more than 10 men in a pub. He tries to put extra effort in his act which shows. Bobby has very few scenes in which he does fine. So this part of the movie is just OK to watch.

The third story featuring Mithun Chakraborty & Dino is the weakest among the three as no one gets a well written role and the veteran Mithun Da is wasted. However, there is one sequence in this weak part, which is brilliantly thought, well written and beautifully executed, which also makes the movie watchable.

The sequence is about an audio tape recorded by Dino while he is fighting on the war front. Incidentally while the recording is on, he is shot and dies on the spot, which all gets recorded on the tape. The same tape is sent to his family as his last things. The sequence where his mother listens to the tape in front of Sohail and Vatsal Sheth is a treat to watch and should not be missed at all. Now let us come to the shortcomings of the movie. First of all, out of the two lead characters on the journey, Vatsal Sheth has nothing to offer in the film. If you think of the screenplay with only Sohail traveling around alone, then also the film would have been the same. So Vatsal has no personal contribution to make in the proceedings and is simply a miscast.

Secondly, I was not able to understand what was the purpose of first 15 minutes of the movie, with all those party and men stripping scenes. The start of the movie, featuring Riya Sen & Amrita Arora, in an eye blinking role is completely out of place and script. The film should have started straight from the film school scene and then on to the main plot. This would have resulted in a more crispier and tighter screenplay with all the emphasis on the main theme.

And lastly the third story did not have the right feeling which was required for the finale of the movie. Instead it ruined all the ambiance created by the first two and thus resulted in a weaker climax.

Cinematography of the movie is competent as it captures the beauty of the outdoors in the right spirit. The border fence scenes are very well shot. Musically the film has some unwanted songs along with a well sung and melodious song "Main Mangiyan Si Janntan" rendered by the one and only Sonu Nigam. But the lyrics of the song left me spellbound with the liberty writer takes to write his lines.

Sample this, "Tera Mera Viyah Sohni Chheti Je Karayiye, Agli Basantan Mainu Santa Banta Chahiye". These lines only represent the down sliding of lyrics in our Hindi film songs. I can only hope that the golden days of "Urdu Shayri" in film songs return back.

To summarize, "Heroes" is a movie which can be seen once and is surely capable of entertaining you with a pinch of patriotic feel. But it could have been an appreciable product with a different starting and better casting. Still a very good leap ahead towards quality by its director.

Promos started of HEROES and i was sure this will be another bakwaas , juvenile film With a star cast like Sunny Deol, Sohail Khan.etc But luckily the film manages a few things well

The film starts well, with the introductions of Salman, Dino.etc but when the focus shifts to Sohail Khan and Vatsal Seth it becomes so bad, reaches to the standards of Sohail films

With bad FRIENDS inspired comedy, with under wears and a song with lyrics BADMAASH LAUNDE Luckily the film gets better with the Salman - Preity story which is the only redeeming story in the film

The scenes between Preity and Salman's parents are well handled, Preity telling sohail to read the letter is also very emotional and the scenes between the young kid Dwij Yadav and Sohail-Vatsal are nice

Then comes the second half We have Sunny- Bobby story which has it's moments but it's too filmy What with Sunny banging 10- 20 people despite being lame Hrishita's part too wasn't required Then comes Mithun- Dino story which lacks the power though the emotional scenes are well handled the story fails to convince even the transformation of Sohail- Vatsal is too sudden

Samir Karnik gives his better film so far, after duds like KYUN HO GAYAA NAA and NANHE JAISALMER But needs to go ahead still Music is alright

Performances are average to above average Salman Khan looks the part but his accent distracts, it doesn't sound Punjabi, but his performance is better then his recent films and he is in full restraint Preity steals the show with a wonderful performance, thank god she acts here rather then trying to look good only and just being a part of a successful film Sunny Deol is good, though too loud at times Bobby gets less scope Mithun is excellent, Dino is likable Sohail Khan overacts initially but is better later- on Vatsal Seth doesn't impress Hrishita, Riya Sen and Amrita Arora come and disappear, adding nothing Thankfully there is less of them frankly Dwij yadav is outstanding, the young actor proves he is a huge talent He overshadows Sohail and Vatsal