Heroes

"Kabhi kabhi ek chota sa kadam, zindagi bhar ka rah ban jata hai." The journey from Delhi to Punjab to Himachal Pradesh, and finally Leh was it for Saand and Nawab Saab. Students of a film academy,Saand and Nawabsaab, have to submit a documentary for their graduation, the topic in jest was decided "Why not to join the Indian Army", but becomes more serious each day. The two guys meet a war journalist who hands them three last letters of soldiers who died in service, Saand and Nawabsaab take it upon themselves to deliver these three letters in hand, and record the experience. Each letter brings with itself a realization of how family and friends of a soldier are affected.

The first letter tells the story of a brave Punjabi soldier Balkaar Singh(Salman Khan), who leaves behind his parents, widow and child. Yet his every decision made his family and friends proud of him.

The second letter tells the story of two brothers(Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol), one in Air Force, one in Army, and how bravery and courage runs in their blood, how they are more than happy to dedicated their life and more to their country.

The third letter takes them to a young man Saahil (Dino Morea), who comes from a family of doctors, but joins the Army in spite of disapproval from his father.

The movie is very pleasant and says there's more to patriotism than war, bullets and politics. The reason the movie works, is because it tells a normal story with a funny bone and gives out subtle messages of patriotism.

In their own small way, Nawabsaab and Saand change the lives of the family of three great soldiers. They have made completed documentary, but does this journey end there? Will Nawaabsaab and Saand make their country proud ? Yes, they will. The ending is very touching.

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).

Comparisions to Motorcycle Diarries – lets not go there.

Sohail Khan:: His performance is good in parts. His attempt to be "cool" is annoying while the serious/ emotional side suits him. Should stop showing off his muscular side every time.

Vatsal Seth:: Good looks, but needs more time to mark a stamp about his performance.

Amrita Arora & Riya Sen:: Force fit for the intro song and the inane comedy. The role should have been simply purged.

Mohnish Behl:: Small role but does it well (and age is catching up!)

Chapter #1: The best, IMO. Salman is OK and his patriotic lines seems to be inspired from Sunny's movies. Preity excels (thanks to her stint with the parallel cinema and it shows!). The confession to the uniform is not warranted. The young Jassi leaves a mark.

Chapter #2: Bobby is OK but it is Sunny who messes up big time. He attempts to do a Hum Dono Dev Anand and ends up creating a caricature. And what was Hrishitaa Bhatt was doing there?

Chapter #3:: Dino Morea doesn't have a role at all. Prateeksha Lonkar delivers a good performance. And its is Mithun who gives a performance which belongs to "Bollywood 1980". Now we know why he was lost in oblivion.

The transformation a.k.a enlightenment should have been a natural progression rather than in spikes. And the end was definitely OTT (the grey hair, school, Jassi et all). Why can't it be a silent realisation?

Had more time/ effort spent on screenplay/ script we could have seen another Rang De! And yes the original title "Mera Bharat Mahaan" would have been apt.

Samir Karnik's 'Heroes' is easily the best film of 2008. An outstanding, fantastic, excellent and astounding film. A Winnner All The Way! The film fared well at the box office, but sadly the film has not got any awards which it deserves. Its an outstanding film and Samir Karnik surely makes a film of a lifetime.

Performances: Mithun Chakraborty once again proves why he is regarded a Legend, he's outstanding. Salman Khan is marvelous. Sunny Deol shines with a great performance. Bobby Deol is superb in a cameo. Sohail Khan and Vatsal Seth do well. Dino is excellent in a brief appearance. Preity Zinta is matchless. Riya Sen and Amrita Arora make able appearances. Dwij Yadav is also fantastic. Monish Bhel is good.

Two Thumbs Way Up!

Boy i went to the theatre s*** scared fearing that bollywood will let the hell of boredom loose on me. But wat i get is a completely different film. A new concept tried is being tried over here. The movie tells the story of a 2 young men who go on a roadtrip to India and find our home made real life heroes. Wat i like about the movie is the entire feel they have given to it. Fun with some melodrama(not the usual one!!)and fun. Good thing about this movie is that they have not tried to convey a heavy message to the youth by using heavy dialogues n all. I am telling you seeing the fun these guys do while on a road trip on their bike..i am going to get me a bike and hit the roads. Explore the country and meet people of all the places. Believe me this film is not the usual run of the mill type bollywood film. Every actor has played their part with uplomb charisma and expertise. Sohail khan is real fun. The crazy whacky guy image suits him. I think for the first time i have seen sohail khan doing a role that has carved out for him and he has done justice to it. There are some beautiful shots of the Indian countryside. I am impressed by the director's use of visuals. Big things are said in a passing that's the USP of the film. Youngsters like me are busy trying to enter the rat race and become a part of the flock. This movie has given me motivation to do what i like the most. Finally i would like to say that this guy has done a great job breaking the mould of current Indian trend of storytelling which is marred by pointless terrorist attack films and other page 3 films. So i am giving him a high rating of 9 out of 10.