Zameen -> Review

29th Sep 2003

Here is a short review for those of you who might be planning to watch
Zameen.

Zameen

One has always associated the banner of N R Pachisia with 'formula' films. Remember Sunny Deol's Ziddi, Ajay Devgan's Haqeeqat and Govinda's Khuddar. To begin with, an important thing to note here is that this 'formula' changes with the changing times. It used to be romance a few years back but it is patriotism these days. The perils associated with making a 'formula' film are numerous. But primarily it is the fact, that right from reel one, the audience knows what to expect. What separates the winner from tha also-ran are what I call the two T's, 'Twist and Treatment'.

Rohit Shetty is a debutante director, which means there is no burden of history on his shoulders. The story is a pot-pourri of various real life incidents involving terrorist violence. So the hijacking in the plot is strikingly similar to the IC 814 hijacking, the depiction of a well-settled professor as a perpetrator of violence is Akshar Dham and the main villain 'Zaheer baba' is a takeoff on Masood Azhar and Ghazi Baba. All this could have looked stale but fortunately it isn't the case. It strikes a cord instead. The Reason : Treatment.

Ajay Devgan (Colonel Ranvir Singh Ranawat) is a Colonel in the army involved in anti insurgency operations in Kashmir who nabs a major terrorist leader (Zaheer Baba). The terrorist group plans a hijacking to get their leader released. The plotting is done in Pakistan and in Mumbai. Enter Abhishek Bachchan (Jai, ACP of Mumbai) who happens to be a failed Army officer (fired by the Colonel). His would be wife, Bipasha Basu (Nandini) is an Air Hostess on the hijacked flight. Plenty of Twists, I must add. The Army plans a sting operation and rescues all the passengers, smashes Pakistani's and kills Zaheer Baba, all this in Adilabad, PoK. And that too, in ~two~ reels. Call it popcorn patriotism or pulp fiction, I don't care. Formula films are meant to be 'feel good' films and I felt good after seeing it.

What works in favour of 'Zameen' is the fact that such films often tend to preach a lot, Zameen too does that but never goes overboard. The director perhaps realizes the fact that everything that he shows is impractical and doesn't justify it too much. Therefore, the Prime Minister in the movie readily agrees to the sting operation even before Ajay Devgan has finished his two and a half dialogues. 'Zameen' has some snappy editing, it is gripping throughout. Background music definitely deserves a mention. Action sequences are first rate.

Performance wise, Ajay Devgan steals the how. Ajay Devgan is at the peak of his abilities, whatever he touches, turns to gold these days. He is remarkable as the Army Colonel. His sheer appearance in the frame raises the intensity. Abhishek Bachchan's role is second fiddle to that of Devgan. And it comes out very naturally. Abhishek Bachchan, although, is more than adequate. The chemistry between the cop and the army officer is cracking. A MUST SEE. Not much to do for Bipasa Basu but she is the perfect show-piece nevertheless. (BTW Amrita Arora is an eyesore in her 'item' number)

Zameen might not have anyhing for the connoisseur but for the 'typical' hindi movie aficionado (myself included), it is good enough because for them, few pleasures can rival watching a slickly made 'formula' film on an otherwise dull Saturday evening.

Off the Context, I would like to put a question. For many-many years, Pakistan has been a villain in our movies but we never took its name. It was always mentioned as 'padosi mulk'. But perhaps with Border or definitely with Sarfarosh, we started naming it explicitly. On one side, we talk of building people to people bonds and on the other, we keep on depicting them as a nation of half-wits. Would just like you guys to think that is it the right thing? Surely, one can be a patriot without bashing Pakistan or is our sense of patriotism limited to proving that we are righteous and a better culture than them. Time for film industry to grow up...