Heroes

Two film school slackers, Ali (Vatsal Sheth) and Sameer (Sohail Khan), are required to make a movie to graduate. They decide they'll make it on "why not to join the Indian Armed Forces". To help with their movie, a war correspondent gives them three letters, each from a Killed In Action soldier, to deliver to the respective families.

One is for Kuljeet Kaur (Preity Zinta), widow of Balkar Singh (Salman Khan). The second is for former Air Force pilot Vikram Shergill (Sunny Deol), from his Army officer brother, Dhananjay (played by Sunny's real-life brother, Bobby Deol). The final letter is to be delivered to a Regiment commander, who in turn gives them one to take to Mr. and Mrs. Naqvi (played by Mithun Chakraborty and Prateeksha Lonkar) from their son Sahil (Dino Morea).

Ali and Sameer find the delivery of these letters takes their film in a direction they never suspected.

The film starts well, but then when our slackers are introduced, becomes a disagreeable slapstick. However, if you get past minutes 8 through 17 (fast forward is my recommendation), you are in for a solidly acted, well-written movie. Most of the songs leave something to be desired, but the love song is quite nice. It's obvious early on that this star-studded tear-jerker is a paean to Mother India, but that agenda doesn't lessen the power of the movie. The viewer is left with both the blatant message "you don't have to be a soldier to love your country", and the satisfaction of a good film.

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!

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).

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.

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.