Missão Kashmir

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's films are always extremely well made in terms of both writing and technique. They're often much more realistic, mature, and the stories are often issue-based and serious. Mission Kashmir is no exception in this regard. It's an impressive and enjoyable movie set in the valley of Kashmir and once again dealing with the ceaseless conflicts between India and Pakistan. The story follows a young boy named Altaaf who is adopted by Inayat Khan, a police officer who unintentionally killed his entire family while trying to eliminate terrorists right after the death of his son. Altaaf lives with Inayat and his wife Neelima for a couple of years, gradually starting to consider them his parents and forgetting the tragic accident. But one day he finds out the truth and runs away. Finding refuge in a terrorist group led by Hilal Kohistani, Altaaf grows up to be a deeply tormented and angry young man who decisively wants to kill the man who killed his family and whom he himself considered to be his own father.

Mission Kashmir shows how crucially tragic events happening at times of a war affect the lives of children and their perception of life, all through the character of Altaaf. His life is miserable and not one single day goes by without the terrible images of his parents' death popping up in his mind and torturing him to no end. As a result he seeks revenge at any cost, believing this will relieve his pain. This message was conveyed very efficiently and the moral of the story is truly laudable. Technically, the movie is marvelously slick. The cinematography is stupendous, the editing is fantastic, the background score perfectly suits the film's atmosphere and dark mood. The music, composed by Shankar Ehsaan-Loy, is generally good, though some of the songs are less necessary. In fact, numbers like "Bumbro" and "Maaf Karo" were too joyful for an intensely dramatic feature like this. The film is very well written - with brilliant dialogues that some of may be a bit sentimental at points but are overall effective enough for the film.

On the flip side, I think the terrorism thing could have been a little toned down. I could not understand why Altaaf had to find solace in being a part of a terrorist group. At times I also felt his character was a bit over the top. I'm referring to his overly strong will to take revenge. The relationship portrayed between Altaaf and Sufiya Parvez, his childhood friend and current love interest, was a little under-developed. I mean, they met after 10 long years and instantly became a pair. Well, the movie still could rise above these flaws with its technical brilliance and interesting story, and above all, many great scenes. I think the action scenes were refreshingly good in this movie, and the climax was very good. One of the film's best scenes is the one in which Altaaf tells his girlfriend that he can see nothing but blood and scary scenes of murder and she offers him to try and look at the world through her eyes. There starts a nice peaceful song, "Chupke Se Sun".

The acting is roundly excellent, and the one who leads the cast is undoubtedly Sanjay Dutt. He is excellent in his role and delivers one of his finest performances - natural, heartfelt and great. Hrithik Roshan is wonderful in some scenes and over-expressive in others, but overall is well cast in the role of a tormented young man, which he plays with sincerity and style. Preity Zinta shines as the young TV reporter and Altaaf's love interest. The chemistry between Roshan and Zinta is very good. Sonali Kulkarni is outstanding as Neelima Khan. She is compelling and moving and plays her character's suffering and pain with depth. The character of Jackie Shroff looked really like a caricature villain to me at some points. To sum it up, Mission Kashmir is one entertaining and well made film which, in spite of its flaws here and there, manages to move and impress. Vidhu Vinod Chopra's direction is very good, and so is the film's message. It's definitely worth watching and for more than one reason.

I decided to continue my phase of watching Bollywood movies which I have not seen in a while and I stumbled upon Mission Kashmir , although I try to avoid very sensitive subjects regarding this the issue of Kashmir and the way Bollywood has a reputation for portraying Muslims these days I had decided to put these views to one side and view this movie and to my surprise it was nothing what I had expected it to. The film has elements of love,faith,hate and other various things so cleverly woven into it that it fits in very nicely and moves the film along at a good pace. The movie also wasted no time in getting under way with plenty of twist and turns and some good dialogue and truly some moving scenes and not to mention the fact that it was beautifully shot giving us the flora and fauna of Kashmir and the grim , ugly depiction of war. The acting from nearly everyone was up to scratch including Hitrik Roshan who I felt was a little cheesy and mousy at times but he carried him-self well, my only complaints were that the songs in this one were a little too long and that caused the film to drift a bit and I felt the Islamic terrorists were well again a little tooo clichéd as if Bollywood has been watching Hollywood a too much. But having said that , Mission Kashmir was defiantly an entertaining but yet at the same time moving, thought provoking picture which is must be checked out by Bollywood fans.

MISSION: KASHMIR - 8.5 OUT 10

TWO BRAVE MEN BATTLE EACH OTHER ...AND PARADISE BURNS!

To an American, especially a post-9/11 American, the idea of a "terrorist musical" would seem outrageous and naive. It would be grossly unfair to make fun of this film in that way, though; MK defies classification in Hollywood genres. The diapason of themes in this movie is impressive and, to quote Roger Ebert, one actually cares what happens to these people, even the unholy maker-of-fatwas Hilal. A young man's flirtation with extremism is teated, as well as the little-understood Hindu-Moslem, and little-known Russian-Pathan dynamics. I loved the scenery and cinematography, and was very interested to hear about the symbolism from the other IMDb commenter's.

When I saw KHAMOSH, also directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, I thought it was the worst movie ever. I thought that Chopra was a terrible director. Then, I saw MISSION KASHMIR.

MISSION KASHMIR has a rather confusing line if you don't follow it completely. Inayat Khan (Sanjay Dutt) is a Kashmiri cop whose son falls from a second-story window by accident. No doctor treats the boy in fear of a fatwah issued by a terrorist named Malik-ul-Khan. The boy dies.

Blinded with fury, Khan organizes a raid on a house Malik-ul-Khan is staying at. Unknown to the police, the house is owned by an innocent family of four and Malik-ul-Khan is there merely as an uninvited guest. During the raid, all terrorists and almost all members of the family are shot down. The only survivor is the ten-year-old boy Altaaf.

Khan adopts Altaaf, but is continuously fearing that the boy will one day realize that he was the masked man who killed his family. One day, Altaaf finds the mask and realizes the truth. He attempts to murder his foster father and runs away.

Years later, an ex-Mujahiddin Pathan radical terrorist named Hilal (brilliantly portrayed by Jackie Shroff) is in search of a brave soldier to help him in his jihad and in a top secret mission code-named Mission Kashmir. Who else does he pick, but his "baccha" (child) Altaaf (Hrithik Roshan)?

Along the way, we meet the beautiful and playful TV reporter Sufiya Pervez (Preity Zinta).

MISSION KASHMIR is no ordinary action movie. It is actually more of a drama set on a violent background. Don't misunderstand me; action lovers will be thrilled by this film.

The special effects of MISSION KASHMIR are extraordinary and the music and songs are the best I've seen in years. One thing I used to dislike about many films was that there would be songs where they did not belong. The songs here are well-worded and absolutely appropriate.

Jackie Shroff's portrayal of Hilal is equally outstanding. One can take a look at his eyes and realize that this man is a fanatic.

If MISSION KASHMIR were an American film, it would receive the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Actor (Hrithik Roshan), Best Actress (Preity Zinta), Best Director (Vidhu Vinod Chopra), Best Supporting Actor (Jackie Shroff), Best Supporting Actress (Sonali Kulkarni), Best Music, and Best Special Effects.

Simply an outstanding film.

9.5 out of 10

Going into the movie, I expected a lot from it. In fact, to be very honest this was only the second movie after Border for which I was waiting so eagerly. This was also my first, first day-first show movie....so the excitement was unparalleled for me, to say the least. And, the movie.....well it was all I thought it would be and much more.....it just could not have been any better. Right from the unparalleled technical quality of the movie, symbolism and metaphors (courtesy screen play assistance of a US university professors and novelist) to the outstanding performances from just about everyone in the movie. This movie is perfect, no flaws whatsoever......and when talking of being flawless, i think we got to talk about Hrithik, the guy is just amazing. I think he is the first and to date only complete actor of Bollywood. The guy is great in every aspect of acting. He looks good, he dances well, and yes he can act as well (surprised, well....trust me its true!!!!)......apart from him, I think Sanjay Dutt has given the performance of his life. Preity Zinta is gorgeous and disarming as always with her natural effervesence in the supporting role of Altaf's childhood love, Sufiya Parvez. And Jackie excels in a brooding and menacing performance which is unfortunately underwritten. (Then again, Jackie always steals the scenery in Vinod's films.) But, the real surprise package of the movie is Sonali Kulkarni. I don't know if this was her first movie or not, but it surely was the first time I saw this amazing talent act on the big screen. I am using the word "act", but in the movie I, not even for second felt that she was acting, it was all so real and natural. Take my word, watch out for her. She, for sure will go a long way. What then to conclude about Mission Kashmir? Yes, it is a must see, and likely one I will watch at least a half-dozen times more in the future. And so it will grow on me, a rare quality for movies which usually fade in their appeal over time. I must commend Vidhu Vinod Chopra for always making films from the heart. The problem remains for him that the average filmgoer wants instant gratification, not a movie that takes time to sink into your system. Let's see if this Mission proves me wrong.