Samjhauta Express

Early yesterday morning, I read a news item in the Times of India that said that Lahore has not gotten a release across the border. Took me into the age of the cold war when Hollywood produced scores of jingoistic anti-Soviet Union films. The evolution of the Bond franchise prior to Pierce Brosnan is a prime example of this phenomenon. I wonder if any of these films were banned in the Sov-bloc. Anyways, that’s besides the point so far as the film itself is concerned but makes quite a telling point when one looks at the circumstances out of which the film was born. I’ll come to that during the conclusion of this review.

Lahore, as the trailers suggested, is a sports movie with dollops of patriotism thrown in via an Indo-Pak encounter in the ring. Now, sports is a genre that our desi filmmakers aren’t very adept at, with the exception of a stray Lagaan or a Hip Hip Hurray. Chak de India is an interesting case in point here. In spite of the copybook script and the good performances, the film never worked for me as a sports movie. But that’s another discussion for another day. Back to Lahore, when this ineptitude at the genre combines with the tightrope of Indo-Pak relations, the probability of a disaster goes very high. To debutant director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s credit, he walks the tightrope quite skillfully across the distance, but not before succumbing to some lesser sins in the process.

The sports aspect of the film is handled creditably. In an early dialogue that sets the tone for the treatment of the rest of the film, the coach of the Indian team announces to the press, “Sawaal cricket ko neecha dikhane ka nahi hai. Sawaal yeh hai ki hum doosre khelon ki taraf bhi tawajjo dein” (The issue is not showing cricket in a bad light. The issue is to show some attention to other sports too). And the film stays true to that dialogue throughout. Unlike Chak De India, which sought to downplay cricket quite overtly in order to show the superiority of hockey, Lahore chooses to juxtapose cricket in the plot in an interesting manner without asserting on the superiority or inferiority of one sport against another. And it spends quality time on the issue of politicos & board officials subverting sports in India. The way the coach deals with the high-handedness of the minister who is also the chairman of the Kickboxing federation, is one of the most entertaining parts of the film.

The handling of the Indo-Pak theme was the surprise packet. Chauhan avoids the twin pitfalls of preachiness & jingoism to quite an extent on the surface. However, shades of the two are pretty common in the subtext with the Indian side shown as innately fair while their counterparts from across the border treat the game as war. There are a couple of other instances of subtly done jingoistic stereotyping like the liberal Pakistani in the lead actress & the climax, which although seeks to assert its own brand of Gandhigiri, ends up doing something altogether different.

The film is laced with some sublime performances. The prime candidate for the Man of the Match award here is veteran Farooque Sheikh. He is spectacular as D.K.Rao, the Hyderabadi coach of the Indian team. Delivering witty lines in a terrific Hydi accent, Sheikh chews up the scenery in every moment of his presence in the film. And his conversations with Suri (Saurabh Shukla), the technical director of the federation are laced with good humour. Other good performances include the ones by Jeeva (at home as a politician from Andhra Pradesh), a much-missed Ashish Vidyarthi as the Pakistani minister for Interior & Mukesh Rishi as the brooding ace of Pakistani team.

Where the film loses out is in the script, which is dead wood that even the nuanced execution and restrained performances can’t redeem enough. The relationship between the two brothers could have been the source for some great drama, Rocky style, but sadly, it wasn’t used to its full potential. The second half is as predictable as a mathematical table. The two romantic angles are half-baked and unnecessary. Also, the character played by Kelly Dorjee is accorded far more importance than required. The film could also have scaled a rung or two up the ladder had the casting team tried a couple of different permutations. The lead actor, Aanahad is quite inadequate for his role which is quite demanding due to the different character shades it encompasses. On the other hand, Sushant Singh is wasted in his role, which doesn’t require much. A simple switch between the two would have been welcome. Nirmal Pandey seemed a far better choice for the coach of the Pakistani team. It was a travesty of fate on hindsight that the swansong of such a gifted actor had to be a role of zero importance and consequence and Sabyasachi Chakravarty hardly looks like a kickboxing coach.

The sport of kickboxing was a double edged sword for this film. The sport implies high adrenaline action, which translates into good entertainment if done well. The film had the right people to do it well in a sports consultant (Robert Miller) & a stunt choreographer (Tony Ching Sui Tung). The question is…was it done well? The opening fight sequence between Kelly Dorjee & Sushant Singh is a cracker. But from there on, either the quality of action choreography and/or the cinematography deteriorates. However, each fight scene packs in at least one killer move, which is worth the ticket price. But sadly, the level of action hardly holds a candle to other kickboxing classics like Bloodsport, Tom Yum Goong etc. Also, kickboxing seems a bit odd choice for a movie centred around India & Pakistan, since neither of the two countries are big on it. The media frenzy around the sport and the packed stadia shown in the film look somewhat out of place due to this fact. And while they paid a consultant for the Kickboxing knowledge, they could have just referred to the internet to avoid confusing themselves between the Challenger Trophy & the Irani Trophy.

So where does all this place Lahore? In my opinion, it’s just an entertainer and needs to be seen as one. Thankfully, it’s not a film proffering peace between the two nations. For an entertainer, it does fairly well, keeping the viewer interested most of the time. And while it makes several compromises, it surely isn’t a waste of either time or money. Which brings me to the news item that I started this review with a mention of. The news unfortunately reinforces what the movie says about Pakistani polity – their lack of sportsmanship. And the sad part is that the pacifists on our side of the border mirror their representation in the movie by taking all crap that comes their way and turning the other cheek.

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