Politics is a dirty game and I don’t particularly like politicians, especially those who are busy playing ping-pong with the lives of soldiers at the Northern borders. I have no animosity to the people of our neighbouring country. Please do not take the contents of this review to be a slur on anyone’s nationality. It is not intended for that purpose. Just a review of a movie and the facts as reported in some websites.
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The Reality
Facts have been collated and quoted from various websites about this event. Those who wish to verify it, please M2M me. Thank you. :)
The Pak Army had planned the invasion of the Kargil Drass region 14 years ago to cut off India’s road connection to Siachen
The Indian Air Force rewrote its operational doctrine when it launched Operation Vijay by conducting combat air strikes in support of the Army’s counter-infiltration operations in Drass and Kargil. Mig-23s, MiG-27s and helicopters from Srinagar are believed to have taken part in the strikes. The Srinagar airport was closed down and taken over by the IAF
This is the first time that air power has been used in internal security operations and also the first time since 1971 that combat aircraft took part in actions in areas near to Pakistan
Indian pilot Flight Lieutenant K Nachiketa while in Pakistan’s custody, tried to escape and fired at the troops before being captured
The Movie
The movie opens with a poignant pan of the killing fields high in the snow-clad borders. A lone voice on the radio keeps saying ‘Alpha calling Charlie. Over.’ And the viewer sees bodies, so many of them, riddled with bullets and lying all over the mountain-top. This sets the tone for the rest of this megathon. As events progress, we learn that so many have been killed that sending patrols after the missing involves a lot of should-we, shouldn’t-we thinking.
Though there’s no screenplay (as reported in myriad news columns over the past few days), the actors have done a commendable job of portraying their parts. The only glitch (and for me, that was like a pin poking me in the backside while I was sitting peacefully watching a movie) was the unnecessary presence of the love interests. Come on man, we are making a real-life war story. Where’s the song and dance routine in that?
What else can be said about a series of documentary-like montages? Most of the lines are repetitious. What was different (to me) was the war cry of each battalion.
J P Dutta has to be commended for this effort. I heard about this ambitious project starring more than 26 heroes and 18 heroines and wondered who in their right mind would want to make, act or direct such a marathon headache. I got my answer in LOC. JP wanted to make something to honour the memory of the Kargil martyrs and so he made this colossus of a movie, spanning more than 4 hours (I hear its now been chopped). Everyone has been allotted a role and all they have to do is be the part for the duration of the movie. Dutta has made a series of montages of the soldiers who either died in action or returned victorious from battle. While his effort and research is commendable, keeping in view the above mentioned facts, the movie seems to be missing some major events. Ok, granted that asking for Mig-23s and MiG-27s for a movie-shoot kind of seems tacky, but shouldn’t there at least be a mention and at least one lone shot of one lone fighter plane? These were instrumental in winning the war for us, don’t they deserve at least a mention?
What I liked
Stuck to the facts wherever possible – battalions, positions, terrain, arsenal, platoon rivalries
Not one of the actors tried to make personal hay while this sun shone – a patriotic movie and everyone rightly did what was asked of him, no one tried to outshine his fellow actors
Well-choreographed combat sequences – night moves, taking cover, reloading weapons
The ultimate thrill – the Bofors guns. Most people had heard of these legendary weapons but mostly in connection with scams in Rajiv Gandhi’s time. This was the first time they actually saw what it was used for and believe me, the ruckus in the hall every time one of these boomed had to be heard to be believed.
A senior official stops a soldier from kicking a dead enemy soldier (I don’t remember the exact actors – all are a soup in my head) “He too was a soldier for his country, you should not insult his body.” (Something along those lines.)
The friendly repartee, camaraderie between the soldiers and their officers
Realistic sound effects
Performances by: Ajay Devgan – (designation) Manoj Pandey; Abhishek Bachchan – Capt. Vikram Batra; Ashutosh Rana and Manoj Bajpai – Grenadiers Yogendra Singh Yadav(s); Saif Ali Khan – (designation) Vinod
All who died in Border get to live in this one (silly point, but there all the same)
What I disliked
Romance and the musical interludes
‘Seemaye Bulaye’ by far does not come even close to matching the emotional power of ‘Sandese Aate Hain’
The length of the movie – while all the sequences were good, either the time should have been put to good use with some air combat shown or crisper editing should have been employed
Hearing at least 4 versions of 15 battle cries – in slow-mo, in real-time, in flash-back
They got almost everyone killed – nearly all the portrayals in this movie are of those who died. While I respect the fact that they died for the nation, shouldn’t we have more of a positive note by showing the living?
The above-mentioned sound effects literally shook the seats every time a grenade went off
Performances by: Sanjay Dutt – Col. Y K Joshi (Joe on his patch, for God’s sake); Ashish Vidyarthi – (An aggressive Col./Maj. – I forget which); Kareena Kapoor and Esha Deol and Preeti Jhangiani – love interests of AB jr, Saif and Akshaye Khanna resp.
There’s no Nachiketa anywhere in the movie.
Conclusion
As a sum of its parts, LOC leaves much to be desired. Effort and intent alone cannot carry a movie, we need some good plot to hold it all for 4 hours. Personally, the movie leaves me with a bitter-sweet aftertaste. I shed more tears on reading the news than I did when I watched this movie.
As a movie, it’s a colossal bore after the first 30-45 minutes.
As a tribute to those who died in the Kargil conflict, it’s a first-class memorial.
I’d watch it once more for the latter reason.