Gadar ek Prem Katha
First of all, Gadar Ek Prem Katha contains nothing that should be seen as controversial. Gadar is a true account of the incidents during the period of partition and conveys the hatred and emotions during that time. For this I commend the film, it is a very brave effort and the drama and emotions touch the viewers basic instincts. All I can say, I don’t see what all this hot air is about, there is nothing anti-Pakistani or anti-Muslim about this movie. I hope none of the scenes are cut from this movie, because their presence is paramount.
Gadar is not just an action movie it also has a beautiful love story that will appeal to many.
Plot review:
The plot of Gadar is very interesting and it is a very brave attempt. Any true human can find Gadar a worthwhile watch. The way in which the story is told is absolutely brilliant, it has conveyed emotions very well and every second of Gadar is worth while. Each page in this story has been handled with utter most care. The visualizations of the scenes deserve much praise. The drama and emotions contained in this film are perfect and make Gadar an excellent watch.
I have noticed that in the first part, where the Hindu’s and Sikhs were killed on the train. When the same thing happened against the Muslims in India, it was less brutal. The director has indeed shown realism here, as Pakistani’s would have been more brutal.
There are many flaws in the story, im not sure if this is correct, but in the flash back they have shown a majority of Indian faces in a hostel, speaking clean English, looking very clean and posh and sharing the same school with English teachers and during that time, I didn’t think the English ever treated Indians in this way and to further it, Tara Singh also happens to enter the hostel.
Another major flaw is in the visualisations of some of the songs, especially in the song where, Tara is taking Sakina back to Pakistan, its very confusing and should not have been like that. They show many forms of the song, one time they are shown in the truck, one time their in a cart at another time there on foot. One time Sakina is seen to go on a boat to Pakistan, one time she just crosses the border, in end we learn that Tara was just day dreaming. The same confusing, yet very dramatic and pleasing visuals can be seen in some other songs too.
In the 2nd song, Udjaa Kale Kawan, shows that Sunny Doel shaved his beard, and in those times a Punjabi never shaved their beard.
The most serious flaw in this film, is the action scenes and there are some very idiotic scenes in the film, that makes you think if it’s a cartoon!
Tara Singh seems to be blessed with super duper human strength, from the start of the film it is shown how he can single handedly beat up everyone! And to add to the idiocy, he manages to throw people 20 feet into the air! In one place he uproots a drinking device as a weapon to fight a few hundred people. In one place , it is shown like 200 people charging at him, but he beats up perhaps 20 of them and the other 180 seem to have disappeared!
In once place when there the Pakistani army/police are looking for him in the jungle, Sunny Doel raised his sword!!! and roars and LOL, they run away — ’’BAGOOO’’
In the car chase sequence, which was very interesting to watch! The police car that was after him, was lobbing grenades at him (Do police have grenades? ) and every single one missed him LoL and they were just hitting and exploding everywhere around him , except him! If this chase had gone on any longer, all of Pakistan would have been destroyed (grin).
Another interesting scene, is where cars are literally flying(from explosion) sky high, literally as if they are going to hit an Air India plane in flight!
The comedy scenes, range from bad to very good. Some comedy seems situational, as seen in Lagaan(and films like Hera pheri) but in some cases comedy looks very forced.
All in All, Gadar is a very brave attempt and the drama and emotions, especially the confrontation scenes are first rate and project power, but it does have many flaws, which says to me, bad direction.
Plot rating: 7.5/10
Technical review -
Technically this film ranges from breathtaking to really tacky. The cinematography(camera work) is first rate, it is absolutely stunning and in some respects its better than Lagaan. However this is because, Lagaan was shot extensively in Bhuj and a had a desert backdrop, while Gadar is shot in many places. There are desert scenes and they resemble the camera work in Lagaan perfectly. The camera work has a lot of colour and texture, the train scenes are good and the mountains and hill scenes are breathtaking. The sound effects are excellent and perfectly blend in the story. The special effects are good in the car chase sequence, but towards the end in the train sequence they are extremely tacky.
The train is set on fire, and I really wished ZEE really set it on fire, because the fire we see on the screen looks completely fake and not to mention tacky!
When the Helicopter collides with the train and then explodes, correct me if im wrong, but how did a life size helicopter reduce into a toy size helicopter when it hits the plane
Technical rating: 8.5/10
Music review -
I was not a fan of the songs, though when I saw them all play in their own setting, I cant help but awe. One of the songs is repeated from time to time in the film, although that is due to the situation. The songs are situational and no song seems out of place. Each song depicts a story and are very good to look at , although some songs contain confusing scenes.
All in all, the music scores a perfect score.
Music rating 10/10
Screen play review-
This film is really, Amisha Patel’s all the way!!! - she is absolutely excellent as ‘Sakina’, she has so much expression and all her scenes project power. All of us in the theatre felt the same, I could hear many praising her, many were asking, ’’who she was!’’ Though Amisha patel has really done wonders in this movie, her expressions, her dramatic acting, her face and voice has created a new force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed her ballet sequence, her phone call to Lahore and her run from the angry mob. She is seriously first c l a s s and she and Gracie Singh look like the new order of the day. Sunny Doel is also brilliant and the fierceness in his eyes looks very genuine, he does have a lot of shouting scenes though . Amrish Puri was stupendous, his acting should win him many awards. The rest of the cast, ranges from good to bad. The illiterate wife who gave them refuge plays her role to perfection, I kept on shouting in my seat, ’’Slap her, Slap her! Throw her off the cliff!
Screen playing rating: 10/10
Overall rating 9/10 : 90%
So as a conclusion , I think Gadar is going on my good list
*I would have included the plot, but it exceeds the 8000 limit*