Customer Reviews

Mission Kashmir [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

One of the great things about Bollywood is that for Americans who are tired to death of the inanity and sameness of summer blockbuster-type
movies, these imports from India offer a completely different kind of movie experience. Mission : Kashmir, for example, presents a dedicated and happily married policeman trying to stop terrorists. Easy enough to predict how Hollywood would handle that one : Michael Bay or some other loud noise and explosion director; Bruce Willis/Nicholas Cage/Arnold Schwarzenegger starring; Rene Russo as the wife; plenty of blood and death and snappy one-liners; no emotions; no thought required. It's all so familiar and insipid you wouldn't even rent it went it comes to video. Bollywood may be just as formulaic in its own way, but it is very much its own way and besides being fresh and different for an American viewer the formula also seems superior in several important aspects.

First, despite the Hindu nationalism of India, which would make you think filmmakers would shy away, the stories use politics and history to
illuminate contemporary concerns--most often the clash between rival religions. So in Mission : Kashmir, the hero, Inspector Inayat Khan is a
Muslim loyal to India, hunting down Muslim terrorists who are trying to "liberate" Kashmir and destroy India. His particular hatred of the terrorists is fueled by a fatwa which was placed upon anyone who assists him or his family, so that when his son fell from a window no doctor would treat the boy even as he lay dying in Khan's arms.

But rather than present everyone as cardboard cutouts, uniformly bad or uniformly good, the film explores the legacy of hatred and the currents of violence that have made people hate each other. In one especially effective scene, after a police raid in which Kahn's Hindu deputy, Avinash, has gone berserk, his Sikh colleague, Gurdeep Singh, tries comforting him. But as Avinash bemoans the loss of loved ones to terror and wails that Gurdeep can't know what it is like, Gurdeep explodes in rage because his family was murdered by Hindus rioting after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. In a nation where so many ethnicities and religions have co-existed so uncomfortably, everyone has his own scars, some quite horrible.

Another refreshing feature of these films is that they quite revel in melodrama and pathos. So when Khan exacts his revenge, slaughtering an entire village to get at the terrorist leader who issued the fatwa, he rescues the man's son and at the insistence of his own wife, Neelima, adopts him. The child, Altaaf, who witnessed the raid, is nearly catatonic and is obsessed with the ski-masked gunman who shot his father. When, several years later, he finds the mask in Khan's desk drawer, he runs away from home, is taken in by a Kashmiri terrorist who raises him as a son, and dedicates himself to getting revenge on Kahn. So the father is responsible for the death of Khan's son and Khan is responsible for the death of the father and now the son and Khan will duel to the death with the struggle in Kashmir, and the jihad of the boy's third "father", as a backdrop--and so violence begets violence and passes from generation to generation.

Meanwhile, Neelima, who is Hindu, is torn between the two men she loves and when Altaaf returns as a young man, hell-bent on murdering her husband, she tries desperately to convince him that no religion, no cause, no blood feud can justify his course of action, that he has a choice to make, between love and hate and good and evil. But just the fact of her temporarily eluding security to meet with him brings down the distrust of Kahn's Hindu superiors upon him and Kahn confronts her, saying she'll have to choose between him and her "son". And, of course, when the final confrontation comes, Altaaf does indeed have to choose between the vengeful and mindless sectarian violence or the kind of love and healing of which his "mother" spoke.

Granted, many of these scenes are way over the top and somewhat implausible, but they're at least trying to elicit some reaction from us. The
filmmakers want to invoke the emotions that might drive such destructive, even self-destructive, behaviors--to make us at least share the feelings if not the thoughts of the various characters. Think how different this is than say a Die Hard movie, where the terrorists are merely evil incarnate with no coherent motivation.

The final innovation that Bollywood brings to the movies is one that can take some getting used to and is particularly jarring in a film like this one. Bollywood productions tend to be musicals--not musicals as in the Sound of Music either, where there are songs throughout and some pretense for them, but musicals in the sense that big production numbers break out nearly at random, often blending in elements of fantasy, with no real
intention of moving forward the narrative of the film. Here the songs begin at a couple of really odd moments, once during a major terrorist assault and once when Kahn has unknowingly brought a bomb home in his briefcase. Just when we'd expect the film to try and exploit the tension of the situation, the stars start singing and dancing. As if the timing wasn't disconcerting enough, the song during the attack turns into a huge Up With People type extravaganza. It's exceedingly odd. But it's also so unusual that it ends up being rather exhilarating and it's certainly memorable.

If all this isn't enough to intrigue you : the cinematography and the scenery in Kashmir are spectacular; the screenplay's cowritten by the fine
novelist Vikram Chandra; there are any number of terrific action sequences; there's a romantic angle as Altaaf finds the girl he loved in childhood; and the actors and actresses are uniformly fabulous looking. Sanjay Dutt is especially appealing as Kahn, big, bluff, and tough, with the manly good looks of a Jack Lord or a Victor Mature. Hrithik Roshan, as Altaaf, is more the Brad Pitt-type, a pretty and sensitive hearththrob, but it's very much Dutt's picture and he carries it ably.

With all this going for it and with terrorism and Kashmir so much in the news, it seems likely that even if you're new to Bollywood, this is a film you'll enjoy and a timely introduction to the fine crop of films coming out of India these days.

GRADE : A-

Mission Kashmir. The music is terrific, and - it has to be said - sung by fans even in Kashmir itself, where this film went down like a lead balloon when it was shown on cable. Put aside any thoughts that Mission Kashmir tells the 'truth' about Kashmir: it is a (well-made) Bollywood epic, not a documentary. Even so, it represents the classical Indian view of Kashmir - and ought to be watched by those interested in the politics of Kashmir. However, that aside, the music - and the fact that parts of the film were filmed in the Kashmir Valley (Dal Lake, and the Chief Secretary's house up Gupkar Road) merit a viewing. Do go watch it.

If you have or haven't seen Lagaan or Monsoon Wedding yet, or you feel slightly discouraged about watching foreign films where you have to read English Subtitles, this film "Mission Kashmir" is a great place to start if you want to capture that great Indian film, Bollywood experience, that so many people in America are starting to discover. (Bollywood means Bombay's Hollywood).
This DVD of "Mission Kashmir" gives you an English Audio track to listen to so that you don't have to struggle with reading as you're watching. The English dubbing has some voices that your kids hear when they watch English dubbed "Japanese Anime".
In India, in the exciting world of Bollywood, this film has one of the hottest male stars of Indian cinema. His name is Hrithik Roshan. Ladies are going nuts over this handsome guy. As in other Bollywood films that he's done, Hrithik Roshan is quickly becoming the most popular male star of Bollywood. Some of his other films that are popular (in India, and other countries outside of America), are "Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham", "Fiza", and "Mujhse Dosti Karoge". If you find a way to rent these films, you're in for a treat. Your husband may enjoy them too, because the girls in these films are gorgeous too.
In "Mission Kashmir", the female co-starring with Hrithik is Preity Zinta. She has also been in some Indian Blockbusters, such as "Chori Chori Chupke Chupke", "Dil Chahta Hai", and "Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega", just to name a small few.
The other main character of this film is more of a Bollywood veteran star named Sanjay Dutt. Many of his big movies include; "Khal Nayak", "Khoobsurat", "Vaastav" and "Daud" (This film "Daud" features an intensely sexy song video with the undenyably gorgeous Urmila Matondkar). I'm sure Sanjay Dutt has had many other popular films, but I don't follow him as much as I do other Bollywood stars.
Now I'll close with just a small comment about Bollywood. I've come to recognize that women enjoy the stories of Indian films better than men do. I guess women have longer attention spans, then most men. Indian films aren't for the bone-headed, simple mindedness that American Blockbuster films rely on. These stories are more intricate and detailed. Most men prefer American Hollywood films more because Hollywood does more special effects, and extensive violence and blatant use of fowl language. In other words, men usually don't want to follow a story, men don't want to have to think, they just want to be entertained by unrealistic action scenes, and watching people get beat up and/or killed. Many Hollywood Blockbusters aren't much when it comes to an actual story...
Bollywood films have a lot more to offer than just visual effects. Maybe it's just me, but I happen to love watching beautiful girls dance. In Bollywood, song videos are normal. I'll agree with some people though. Some of the songs, although passionate and sexy, still seem a little out-of-text with the story here. But, luckily, you can always skip the songs by simply jumping to the next chapter. You also have an option with the DVD to just watch the song videos without the movie, which I enjoy when I don't have time to watch a full movie. I even have a "Priety Zinta" Song DVD collection where her song videos are mixed up with other song videos from other movies that she's done. These song videos are usually filmed in some exotic paradise location, or in hot dance bar, or somewhere else, which is so colorful and exciting. India's Bollywood song videos are like watching "moving, active, visual art for the mind and the ears." The hell with MTV, I'd rather watch visual art that is sensual, not angry and disturbing. I mean, what do YOU watch music videos for?
"Mission Kashmir" is a great place to start for both men and women. It's got a great detailed story, and it's got your violence, too. It's got handsome guys and gorgeous girls. And the DVD has an English voice track, so nobody has to think too hard... What's more, most all Bollywood DVD's have an English subtitle option. That wasn't always the case with VHS. This factor alone is helping to bring Bollywood to the American audience.
So, give this one a try. I'm sure you'll enjoy this new movie experience.

Indian films seem lately to have a special interest in the issue of islamic terrorism. This is the case in this film, in which the situation of Kashmere as a potential terrorist target is treated in quite a gutsy way. The plot is complex and far-fetched, even by Indian standards, and it involves an international terrorist plot, Bin Laden (always seen in the shadows, but unmistakenly him), Afghans, Kashmir, Indian policemen, romance and music, all thrown together. However, the complexity of the plot forms a background against which we are told a tragic story of love and hate between a father and his son. The son, Hrithik Roshan, hates his father with such violence that his only obsession is to kill him. Of course, this pattern of family relations must be so traumatic in a country like India, where parents and families in general are considered almost sacred, that the audience would have found impossible to understand, let alone like or sympathize with, such a character. And hence the bizarre plot. The father is not the real father of the protagonist, he is actually the policeman who killed the protagonist's family as an act of vengeance, and then, guilt-ridden, adopted the, then very young, boy. When this boy grew up and discovered the truth about his adoptive father, he ran away from home promising vengeance. He then was raised and trained as a terrorist by a mysterious Afghan , and finally goes back to India as an extremely dangerous person pepared to do anything to get his revenge, inadvertedly acting as a pawn in a great scale plan to cause havoc in Kashmir. This is the bizarre story that justifies what would be otherwise impossible to do for an Asian audience: a son hating his father, rebelling against him, obsessed with destroying him. This is an old trick, much used in literature (e.g. Shakespeare) and that in this case adds to the build-up of the climax and makes this long movie (3 hours aprox) seem short. It also makes you understand the ending. In an American film, the terrorist would certainly have been punished by the writer. But here, the main issue is not terrorism but this rebellion of the son against the father, so...

I have seen this movie 4 times now. Once with some friends and once with some European young people visiting the US. Everyone was immediately drawn into the engrossing story. Everything about the movie is very moving. The other reviewers have discussed these features and others and I don't want to repeat them, except to say that I agree with almost all of them.
Additionally, I would suggest that perhaps this, and other, Bollywood films, while following a very modern, hip, glossing product, are also recapitulating Classical Indian drama in many ways. Classical Indian drama, such as Kalidasa's Sakuntala, used many of the same dramatic devices found in Mission Kashmir. There was always music, usually to express emotion and usually the singing of poetry, much like we see here. Dancing was obligatory and the dancers had to use stylized hand and finger positions during the dance.
Classical drama also had characters who were often more symbolic than realistic. Unusual plot twists were common. There was always a hero, usually portrayed as some kind of symbol of Rama or Krishna.
Another thing that I noticed about the film is how Neelima becomes a symbolic figure, almost Mother India, who sacrifices herself for love.
This is a terrific film for a million reasons. It is very educational for Americans after September 11. A large number of the characters tell us in no uncertain terms why they have made the choices they have. In this respect, this movie is very disturbing and sobering, in spite of the unlikely happy ending. It should definitely leave one thinking.

I can honestly say that I have never seen a movie like this. It's a drama, a comedy, a love story, a musical, and an action film. Some might find that subject matter of terrorism shouldn't have been treated lightly but I don't this film is guilty of that. It's actually pretty realistic. The story is about this boy, Altaaf, who experiences a lot of traumatic stuff such as losing his parents in a police raid. He then grows up with this hatred and ends up in a terrorist gang. Altaaf is constantly battling between love and hate and we see the consequences of his desicions.

The musical part is integrated very well into the film. It's doesn't just happen. Like one scene where Altaaf goes to visit his childhood friend and ends up appearing in her music video. It's a nice moment that shows Altaaf isn't totally consumed with vengence and that he still has the capacity to love. And the song was pretty catch too. However, the scene where Altaaf is dancing in a televison special is a little odd. I think he might have been imaging himself in the number wishing he could have the peace being sung about. The action scenes were done well, perhaps a little over done but it worked fine.

I didn't find the acting over the top or hammy at all. I admit that adult Altaaf is pretty darn handsome and probably has done some modeling but I was convicted by his performance. He wasn't just a pretty boy. The man who played the cop that killed Altaaf's parents was superb. The cop's wife was also amazing and it was a hoot to recognize her from "Bride and Prejudice".

My only gripe is the ending. If there was an unrealistic moment in this film then that was it. If I had written it the ending would've been much more tragic. But other than that this is an incredible film that everyone should see.

I had to watch Mission Kashmir because I recognized the handsome Bollywood Superstar, Hrithik Roshan, on the DVD cover.

While the sound effects and some of the acting is a bit dated by Hollywood standards, the storyline is brilliant: a young Kashmiri freedom fighter must choose between revenge and violence or love and forgiveness. His soul is tortured because the man who adopted him as a child is also responsible for the death of his biological family. After watching this film, you begin to think about the futility of war, revenge and violence.

While randomly interspersed with some Bollywood musical moments, it is still a touching story. Nothing is black and white about the matter at all, and you're dying to find out how it all ends. One reviewer wrote about the cheesiness of the musical interludes. That's just Bollywood and part of its appeal. It's definitely different by Hollywood standards which makes it somewhat of a novelty to Western audiences. You just have to be open minded to different types of cinema. Some people like the formula, some do not. It is merely preference in style.

It's a shame that Hollywood films today are falling into a pattern of monotony. If you're reduced to doing re-makes of old films, you got to ask yourself who's really the cheesy one? On top of that, you get the same old endings. The same old lines. Same scene set up. Worst of all, no character development--the crucial premise to a good story. The audience ends up wasting their money. And who benefits? The studios, of course. One of these days, the audience will no longer take half-baked attempts at entertainment and will start looking for entertainment elsewhere. No amount of hi-fi special effects and dolby digital will be able to rescue that. Hollywood be warned.

This movie made me a fan of Hrithik, Preity and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Sanjay Dutt does a great job as well. The acting is superb, and the story and direction amazing. This movie embodies the best of indian cinema - the songs, the drama, all enhance the narration. I love the music, and the lyrics and picturization of 'Dhuan Dhuan' sets the perfect tone for the rest of the movie. In this age of terrorism, this movie offers a glimpse of the complexity of the emotions that are at play - nothing is as black and white as Bush would have us believe. Unless we see everybody, including terrorists, as human beings driven by human emotions, there will be no reconciliation - only an un-ending cycle to rage and retribution.

At the beginning of this movie, a young girl named Sufi playfully pushed Altaaf into the water. When he runs home, he finds his family held hostage by islamic terrorists. The police have been tipped off, and in storming the house Altaaf's parents and sister are killed. When they grow up, Altaaf is full of hatred, but Sufi is a loving person. This is no accident, because in Islam, the Sufi sect's central concept is love. They believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe.

Altaaf joins up with a group of islamic terrorists, filled with hatred and violence. To them, anyone who doesn't agree with them is an infidel, even other Moslems, so they should be killed. All of this violence is done in the name of their god, and they make frequent use of killing. Their ultimate goal is to blow up a mosque while the prime minister of India is visiting the area. It is important for understanding this movie that all the main characters are Moslem . . . or claim to be moslem.

As probably most often happens, the supreme terrorist takes some perceived offense expressed by someone and channels that into terrorism. In Altaaf's case, the leader took the hatred he had of his adoptive father to turn it into hatred of anyone who did not practice his version of islam. However, Altaaf's mother, possibly a Sufi Moslem, loved him in spite of his violence and terrorism; she was trying to let her God's love flow through her to her apparently evil adopted son. Believing that her God was an Islamic God of love, not the god of hatred and violence of the terrorist's sect, she risks her life to go to him with the message that his choice is not just one of kill or be killed, but of choosing the way of love and life or the way of hatred and death.

This movie does not skimp on showing the utterly brutal violence of the evil moslems, carrying out their terror in the name of some god. This is partly dramatic, but also because islamic terrorists have killed more people in India, say since Sept. 11, 2001, than in the rest of the world combined . . . By a factor of ten or so. It is a stark reminder of what will inevitably happen in Europe or the US if they ever gain enough influence and power.

Some of the musical interludes seem a bit long, but the words to the songs are related to the message of the story. They are worth reading (or listening to if you understand the language). This is an excellent movie on the choice to follow the ways of hatred and evil or a life of love and forgiveness.

For another good movie depicting Sufi Islam, be sure to see Omar Shariff's Monsieur Ibrahim (2003) [Starring: Omar Sharif, Pierre Boulanger Director: Franois Dupeyron]


[I want to point out that in this review, I have capitalized the words that refer to a true religion or deity, and deliberately left off the capitals to refer to a pseudo-religion or the anti-diety.]

Mission Kashmir may not seem like a great hit at first, but after you see it, you will definitely love it! The music and dancing steals the show, with the sensuous dance moves of Hrithik Roshan: Equivalent to America's John Travolta, and the beautiful, caressing style of Bollywood Siren Preity Zinta: Equivalent to America's Christina Aguilera, minus the sexuality. The action is superb, and the acting is wonderful. Sonali Kulkarni shows her vivid emotions brilliantly as a torn mother, and Sanjay Dutt makes you believe that he is actually the character, and not just an actor. Jackie Shroff is a pro at being a shady villain, which not many Bollywood stars can do, exception of 'Road' with bombshell newcomer Payal Rohatgi. Yet, do not let children see this: It is definitely R-Rated material. Once a child is 12, then watch it with them, and if they are 15, they may see it alone. Definitely rent it first, and then buy it!