Sarfarosh

One of the best things about this movie is that it shows the hero taking the right path to revenge. He becomes an IPS Officer and concentrates on eradicating crime. This is in contrast with the regular Bollywood hero, who takes the shorter and easier path justified with tit-for-tat logic to kill a particular villain in the story. Thus, this movie rises above the parochial view of solving problems through one particular revenge. Otherwise also, of late Bollywood heroes are never shown as studious ones because it is only the poor students that most people like to relate to and studious people or anyone can laugh on them as well.

I first saw this in the summer of 1999 in a theatre.

Revisited it recently on a tv channel n felt like writing a review now so that I can remember the sweet summer of 1999.

Bollywood to me started with Sarfarosh.

Before watching Sarfarosh, me n my pals were wannabe "cool fellas" always preferring Hollywood movies.

Always preferring Sterling, New Excelsior n Regal theaters in Mumbai for Hollywood movies.

But Sarfarosh changed everything.

I will never forget the summer of 1999 n i still remember i was wearing a white shirt n camel color cargo pants due to the heat.

Me n my fiancé entered Gaiety theatre in Bandra, midway n that too without realising which movie was playing.

That particular time a beer bar dance sequence from Sarfarosh was going on.

My fiance's reaction was a big wtf n i was kinda embarassed thinking which z grade film did we enter.

We decided at least we wait till one hour for the air conditioning but then we were captivated with the movie.

Once the end credits rolled, we both looked at each other and started discussing the movie and how we regretted missing the beginning part.

During those days vhs rental was cheap (10 rupees) n it used to b available the very same day of its theatrical release.

I saw it again in the summer of 1999 on a vhs to catch up the beginning and loved the movie.

The editing of the movie is brilliant. Aamir's acting is top notch. Mukesh Rishi n Naseer Shah deserved accolades.

Sonali Bendre was a perfect package of cute n sexy in this movie.

The movie dealt with so many relevant issues plaguing my beloved country and the way the director handled everything is top notch.

Sadly the director John Matthew never got his dues. I don't kno why he didn't do more movies aft this.

This movie broke all the norms of a typical Bollywood trash which were produced dime a dozen those days n surprisingly Bollywood trash is still produced these days.

(Inserted this bracketed line aft revisiting it again in 2022 but this time with my teenaged kids. The print n the movie is indeed a bit outdated but now my kids r aware why their dad is a big fan of Aamir).

Aamir Khan has performed at his best. Loved the movie.

Ajay Singh Rathod (Aamir Khan) is a honest officer who hates the criminals and terrorist. He loves his country. He gets some information about criminals who are involve in supply of arms in order to create terrorism.

Ajay solves this mystery and reaches the root of this gang. But at the end he comes to know that this terrorism was under-supervision of his very good friend and singer "Gulfam Hassan (Naseeruddin Shah)" The story, Music, Dialogues, everything is just perfect.

A MUST SEE

This movie leaves the theatre with you and stays in your mind for a long time. A realistic and honest look at the problems our police system is facing is the theme of this movie. Amir Khan, is as usual,incomparable and produces a strong and honest performance. He and his team are a bunch of honest, hard-working cops trying to get Mumbai rid of all the terrorism and criminals. Amir Khan plays a tough cop with a rough past (his brother was killed by gangsters) and the event has led him to try and sweep crime away from Mumbai. All the actors in the movie have done their job very well, especially the actors in Amir Khan's police team. Sonali Bendre has done as much justice as she could to her role, which is kind of minimal and unfair. Yet, the movie is a great one. Naseeruddin shah is amazing as usual, and goes through with his character with ease and perfection.Worth a watch, the movie will surely not fail to impress.

Who said Indians cannot make action movies. "Sarfarosh" can be compared to any of the leading hollywood actioners. Aamir Khan is too tough to look sweet in this movie. His commitment to perfection can be seen in the way he carried the movie on his shoulders. The director John too did a great job. Though I feel Naseerudin Shah's role could have got more meat as his potential wasn't tapped complete. Music too is very good. Sonali should start looking serious than trying to look cute, as she is no longer a new comer. A solid movie with sharp dialogues and a crisp script.