KASHMIR- Rightly known as Paradise on Earth & Switzerland of the East due to its scenic beauty, majestic mountain peaks, vast expanse of open fields & ample of fresh air to breathe in, with its simple folks, had always been among the greatest attractions for tourists in India. It welcomed everyone with open arms & sheltered Hindus, Muslims & Sikhs with the same love & embrace. Anyone who chanced to visit this Haven, never left without a taste of hospitality & memoirs of a place so peaceful & serene.
This was until the Exodus that took place in 1990s including the Sikh massacre in 2000 whereby, all the inhabitants who considered Kashmir to be their homeland & mother, were forced out of their homes by the militant groups who called themselves Jehad. Those who refused to succumb to their threats were at once murdered brutally- children, elderly people, pregnant ladies or respectable folks- it did not matter. No one was spared. Innocent & hot-blooded youths were misguided under the pretext of living in a land of their own. Hatred & intolerance for anyone who stood in the way of their ’attainment of freedom’ was instilled in their hearts.
Friendship & relationships lost their meaning in this world where previously strangers had experienced a ’Home away from Home’. Now, the inhabitants had become ’Refugees in their own Home’. What pain & agony must have gone through them who were rendered homeless & helpless. They were reduced to mere numbers by the officials at the refugee camps & given treatment & food worse than what the terrorists recieved in the jails. Their pitious cries fell on deaf ears. When the Human Rights Commission reached that place for enquiry, the people were threatened & muted & the only memories carried back by the HRC was that of serenity & peace. What an irony to the real situation!
While the poor inhabitants lived off as refugees in their own homeland, the outside militant group increased in number & power. If a land can be stripped & raped, then this was it. & her children were just helpless onlookers or else, her own molestors. By the time, her misguided children realised their folly, it was already too late. Repentance claimed their lives. While the rest of the world was oblivious to the pains & sufferings of this badly mauled Paradise, she was being snatched away & seperated from her own country. India was being deprived of her veil which is the beauty & honour of an Indian bride. & silently, we still keep watching....
Sheen, meaning ice, is a documentary movie which is based on reality & the mass exodus which drove out more than 300, 000 people out of their own homes. Sheen (portrayed by Sheen Zaidi) is a young girl who lives in the beautiful valleys of Srinagar & is in love with Mannu (Tarun Arora). Sheen’s father, Pandit Amarnath (played by Raj Babbar) is a Master in the Government School, proud of his roots & in love with his homeland. He is living a simple life with his wife Janak Rani (Kiran Juneja), Sheen, son Raja (Samay Pandit) & his aged parents in their ancestral home.
The movie depicts how their life changes with a twist of fate threatened by one of his former students, Shauqat (Anup Soni) who has turned into a terrorist. Even after watching the riots & bloodshed, Amarnath stands strong & refuses to leave his home. But the struggle for survival finally forces him to the refugee camps in Jammu. From there, he writes strong letters to the higher officials & meets with the media people urging them to reveal the truth to the entire world. Finally, he is summoned to the Geneva Conference to be a spokesman for the people of Kashmir, even as his young daughter is struggling between life & death.
This is a complete Raj Babbar movie & he has done a wonderful job in the role of Pandit Amarnath. His love for his children, concern for the safety of his family, shock on finding his ex-student pointing a gun at him, bewilderment at the treatment inflicted on the refugees by the police, helplessness, anger & fear are portrayed by him convincingly.
In particular, I liked the scene where he approaches the CEO of the TV channel requesting him to show the real situation to the world & is coolly told to do what the militants do; pick up guns & shed blood, if he wanted to stand in front of the camera. At this, Amarnath calmly tells the CEO, ’Call the camera men to Ur house tommorrow morning. They say Charity begins at home, so I’ll begin with Ur home.’ His final speech at the Geneva Conference is also touching where he says, ’.... If 3 Americans are killed, the entire world gathers to avenge them. Here an entire community is being rendered homeless, & U take it as a mere everyday incident?....’
In the backdrop of the tender issue of people being driven out of their homes, the movie plays on the love story of Sheen & Mannu, which I feel was entirely useless & deletable. As both Sheen & Tarun Arora are debutants, they have a long way to go to make a proper impact. Only the opening scene of Tarun seems quite commendable. Sheen, who looks like a number of actresses in different scenes, is quite expressionless. She seems like someone who wants to retaliate just for the heck of it. There are times when one really feels like banging her head on the wall to drive some sense into her. Moreover, she sounds like a stuck-up record player with half of her dialogues being reduced to shrieking, ’Bobji.. Bobji.. Bobji....’
Kiran Juneja has a small part to play & does it in a normal manner. Just average. Samay Pandit, plays the role of the young son of Pandit Amarnath, quiet most of the time. But just a single scene shows that he has a lot to offer, given a chance. Anup Soni, as Shauqat- the area commander of the misled terrorists, is most convincing & really makes the movie more interesting. He gathers motivation from the faceless recorded voice which instigates them to fulfil the Operation Topac which is the direct gateway to Heaven & can be accomplished thru 3 steps:
To instil fear & terror in the valleys & pave way for the success of their Jehad, which is to snatch away Kashmir from the map of India.
To enable the successful operation of their mission, they have to burn & bomb Government & other public offices, important buildings & lamdmarks, schools, roads & bridges.
To destroy & kill anyone who comes in their way which includes all government officers, media personnel, journalists & lawyers, & to rip out all the Kashmir Pandits from the face of the valley.
Director Ashok Pandit, has boldly depicted this hushed issue to reveal the plight of the inhabitants of Kashmir, especially the Kashmir Pandits. If only he had stuck to the real matter instead of hovering futilely over some meaningless love story, it would have made a better & stronger impact. The script by the team of Raman Kumar, Dr. Agni Shekhar & Ashok Pandit, could have been made better & the presentation more realistic & sensitive.
It lacks the true emotions & spirit, barring a few scenes. The music by Nadeem-Shravan is passable except for the song, ’Aao Jannat me Jehannum ka nazaara dekho....’ in its various versions. I liked the lyrics by Sameer. It could bring tears to those who have gone thru the trauma. The rest of the songs are mostly ignorable without the picturization which captures some scenic beauty, though not with complete justice to the Paradise.
Continued in comments section....