Product Details

• Actors: Sunny Deol, Salman Khan, Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol
• Directors: Samir Karnik
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, Import, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
• Language: Hindi
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Eros
• DVD Release Date: January 13, 2009
• Run Time: 138 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001MVYUWU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,787 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Have a Box of Kleenex Handy..., April 18, 2011

By 

Traddles (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heroes: 2008 (DVD)

I was inspired to write this review in response to the reviewer who thinks that this is a Spanish-language film, and the other reviewer who seems to think this is a movie about soccer. Oh dear. Perhaps it should be said up front that this is a Hindi movie, filmed in India, about India, with Indian actors. Spanish and soccer are both completely unrelated.

The film opens with an Indian journalist visiting three soldiers stationed at the front during the 1999 Kargil war, fought between India and Pakistan in the region of Kashmir. The three soldiers each give the journalist their "last letters" - letters that are to be delivered to their family members in the event that the soldiers are killed in combat. As we learn very early on, each of the three soldiers are, in fact, killed during the war. Fast forward three years, and two slacker film students are about to fail film school unless they produce a "final film project" for their professor. The students decide to film a documentary on why you should *not* join the Indian army, and their first interviewee is the Indian journalist we met earlier. He decides to send them on a (hopefully) enlightening journey, and gives them the three soldiers' letters, instructing them to deliver the letters to the soldiers' families (it's never really explained why he held onto them these three years, except to use them as "research").

From this point onward, the film becomes a three-part tale, as the students travel to three disparate regions of India to visit three very different families. The stories of the three soldiers unfold, and we meet very different people. First there is the Punjabi Sikh (played beautifully by Salman Khan) from a rural village who left behind a widow (Preity Zinta) and young son, now struggling financially. A particularly poignant moment occurs when the two slacker students see the barbed wire barrier separating Punjab from Pakistan, and realize for the first time that the land is identical on either side. Second, there is the brash army officer (Bobby Deol) from Manali, whose death left behind his Air Force officer brother (played by real-life brother Sunny Deol). Third, there is the young soldier (Dino Morea) whose death shook his parents to the core, such that his father (Mithun Chakraborty) has actually turned against the memory of his own son.

There are many heartbreaking scenes, including the bereft widow encountering her husband's uniform and the bereft father who is finally able to grieve for his son. Although it may feel like the film is tugging on your emotions in very obvious ways, it is notable that it never demonizes the other side in the conflict; the Pakistani soldiers are described as just doing their job, like the Indian soldiers have to do theirs. This detail saves the film from crossing the line into overly-saccharine patriotism, as the patriotic element is tempered by the fact that neither side is considered to be right or wrong - the only "right" is love for your country, whichever country that may happen to be.

The film is not without its occasional discordant moments, however. An extended sequence toward the beginning introduces us to the two miscreant students, and it's a bit off-key. We are made to understand, through an overly long and not terribly funny sequence of events, that these are two self-involved, unaware slackers. This could have been accomplished in less time and without the disruption to the tone of the rest of the film. There's also an action sequence involving Sunny Deol that might leave some viewers scratching their head, unless you're already familiar with the fact that he's known for being an action star. Personally, I thought Sunny Deol was pretty kick-ass in the sequence.

The two students are played by Vatsal Seth and Sohail Khan. Sohail was, by the end, surprisingly moving (I had only seen him do broad comedy before this). When he cries, you want to cry also. Vatsal is a bit stiffer than Sohail, but he sure is pretty - ladies, you won't get tired of looking at him, even if he doesn't emote quite as well as Sohail does.

Also, the end of the movie will make you smile, especially if you're a Salman Khan fan. But I won't say any more about that - it's a surprise.

16 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Confuse This With The TV Show, May 7, 2007

By 

Dan Mcgarry (Ft Huachuca, az USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heroes (DVD)

This is a spanish-language movie
No relation to NBC's Heroes

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful movie about patriotism with complex emotions, December 20, 2008

By 

Lyn Taryn "Lyn Taryn" (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heroes: 2008 (DVD)

This was nothing like I imagined after seeing promos which looked like Top Gun, and liking the really catchy contemporary songs which suggested something upbeat.
What the movie was really was was about 2 young men who are directionless and just focused on enjoying themselves, finding a new thoughtful commitment to life and growing up.
They are required to submit a movie to their film class to pass their degree and decide to make one about the futility of becoming a soldier. A war correspondent gives them 3 final letters (written 3 years before but overlooked) from now dead soldiers to their families. The young men begin a long trek across India to the 3 very different surviving families to deliver these letters to those they were addressed to.
The families are living with a wide range of emotions and reactions to the soldiers death - from pride to hate; always some consequences and a lot of grief, at a soldier going to his death.
Now that all sound pretty grim but it wasn't. Nor is war really a feature. It is about the human stories of the families left and the decisions of their sons.
It was really giving the views of both the 'for' and 'againsts' the decision to be in the army. It looks at patriotism and sees that as the motivation of the men to fight to protect their country.
No doubt this is simplistic. I'm sure there are many personality and situation reasons that contribute to such decisions and not just a love of country and wish to protect their brothers. However they do try to be balanced and make a point there are also other ways to serve a country apart from this. They adopt the sports coaching phrase 'watch your brothers back' and be there for others in whatever way suits.
I have a quibble about one scene that was unnecessary and deviated from the rest of the movie - where a wheelchair bound survivor manages to triumph in a fight with a bar full of able bodied men (this is the only thing like an fight really in the movie).
I was also uncomfortable that the dead soldiers are always referred to as martyrs. This word is not a pretty one in the days of terrorists.
As a pacifist I really had to face my own judgments of others choices. I also live in a country surrounded by sea where most of our wars have been weighing into other countries business rather than protecting ourselves. In India they are side by side with those they are at war with - though the movie was careful not to point fingers at Pakistan and to say soldiers on both sides were just doing their duty. India also has violent territorial disputes within their borders and have different needs and experience from those in countries who have mostly been blessed with peace like mine.
The acting is strong throughout. I really enjoyed seeing the Deol brothers, Bobby and Sunny, play brothers. Preity Zinta was excellent and Salman Khan also good. However none of these stars are in the movie throughout as the story is broken into 3 segments focusing on the different stories.
So it made me think about a lot of the complexities involved. It was well scripted and I really like the catchy contemporary songs (which are mostly very upbeat considering the themes.
If you are looking for good dance numbers there's one good one but overall this isn't your usual song and dance Bollywood. The soldiers don't break into song and the music is more woven through the soundtrack.