Shaurya - A review

Last night we went to see the movie Shaurya. Since I first saw the promos on TV, I always wanted to see this movie. Perhaps the wish was also to do with being an ex-Fauzi.

The movie has an impressive casting - Rahul Bose (one of my favourites) as Maj Siddhant Chaudhary, Deepak Dobriyal (as Capt Javed Khan), Kay Kay Menon (Brig Pratap), Jaaved Jafferi (Maj Aakash Kapoor), Minissha Lamba (Kaavya - the journalist) and some surprises - Sabrina Lal (sister of Jessica Lal) & Amrita Rao.

The movie starts with a rainy midnight Army Combing Operation in a village near the LOC. What striked me was the way the scene was shot - matured and real time way. One could here the radio conversation staccato in a subtle volume and the fizzy screen as it should be when shot in the night. The act ends with one of the team members shooting at point blank one of his colleagues.

The movie is the story of Capt Javed Khan, an illustrious and promising Army Officer, highly motivated and intelligent, convicted of fratricide. Its a parallel story of two friends, Maj Siddhant (Sid) & Maj Kapoor (AK). Sid is the high adrenaline type and is forever into bungee jumping and para gliding while AK is the calm & cool types. Its also a story of Kavya, the Kashmir correspondent for Dainik Bhaskar, a small town high strung individual. AK is posted to Kashmir and given the prosecution responsibility of Capt Javed and Sid persuades AK to convince his would be father in law (a colonel) to swing his transfer too, so that he can stay with his friend. Sid is made to represent defence which he definitely not likes. What was a little difficult to digest was the ease with which "transfers are swinged", postings made and happy go lucky without any worthwhile work. This just does not happen in the Armed Forces and the JAG branch. However, the subject being different, this does not affect the viewer much.

The major part of the film revolves around the legal wrangles, tribulations and twists in the case. The friends land up in Kashmir with adrenaline pumping pursuits in mind and a view to close the "open & shut case". But obviously that doesn't happen. Sid is pulled into the case and this takes one through the characters of Brigadier Pratap (the CO of the area), the victim's (Maj Rathore) wife (Amrita Arora), Capt Javed's mother (Seema Biswas) and the problem of fratricide and communal bias that we harbour so deep in our minds. Kay Kay Menon's performance is extremely powerful and fantastic. One would love to hate him for his brute determination, willpower and acerbic tongue. That shows his strength of performance. One would remember Deepak Dobriyal as the jilted groom in Omkara. This guy comes across as one with amazing acting skills and probably would be worth watching out for. His silence coupled with the intense look and conviction stood out across the movie.

I would suggest one to see the movie. Its a little intense & serious and not for one searching for adrenaline pumping make believe action, a la Race. I guess the DVDs are also available on Moser Baer for Rs 49! Check out.