Nov 25, 2005 01:14 AM
6987 Views
(Updated Nov 28, 2005 12:29 AM)
If there is one movie that I would pick as the overall best movie that the Indian Film Industry has produced, it has to be '' Gadar-ek Prem katha''. It is very sweeping statement to make, but I make it with conviction.
The best movies are either fiction (Shawshank Redemption)or a portrayal of an event that left indellible scars and memories that is left for generations to cope with. There were two people who put this masterpiece of a movie together, Anil Sharma and Nitin Keni.
Not neccessarily popular names like Satyajit Ray and Bimal Roy, but the sheer brillance of the production, the reconstruction of the authenticity of the period, reminds me of David Lean production. It is difficult to relive a part of the history that should be long forgotten, but to recreate this history is the genius of the Director, in this case Anil Sharma.
Sunny Deol as the (Tara Singh) is a performance of a life time for this actor whose talent been underestimated. No one in Indian Cinema could portray the raw emotion and velocity that he brings to the Screen.
He is matched by anouther thespian Amrish Puri, who is a Volcano of talent unsurpassed by any International actors including the greatest of them all ''Olivier''.
Amisha Patel, who gives a soulful, sobbing, stellar performance.
She has subtlety and depth to her gaze and a feminity of emotion that she brings to this charecter.
Overall this is a masterpiece that will be tough to be outdone.
Movies like Mangal Pandey, Laggan, Monsoon Wedding, Bend it like Beckham are appetisers in the menu of Indian Cinema but ''Gadar Ek Prem katha' is the Main course or the Gourmet of Indian Cinema.
It is upto the discerning audience whether they will settle for fast food or the Gourmet. The music is also superb.
Gadar is a true story based on the partition of India. It is one of the biggest hits of Bollywood and is a movie every Indian should see. Perhaps the only ones who wouldn't like this movie will be Pakistanis.
Some so called secular, elite class and intellectuals may find jingoism of this movie hard to digest (even though they will like it in their hearts), the fact is this movie is awesome.
It is the most politically correct movie about India/Pakistan where as India has accepted Pakistan but Pakistan has not as is portrayed by the characters Sunny and Amrish Puri. This is also the most realistic movie about the horrors of Partition.
The movie take you back to the 1940's and 1950's and is technically superb. But the Movie belongs to ''Sunny Deol'' and no praise is too much for his acting in the difficult role of Tara Singh.
He perhaps was born to play that role and has proven once again after the towering performance in ''BORDER'', that their may be star/actors of the millenium Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Dilip kumar and so but he is above all and no-one could play challenging roles like in Border/Gadar like him.
If Gadar was produced in Hollywood, this movie will sweep the awards and Sunny will get all major best actor awards, unfortunately it is India and though it is destined to become biggest hit ever, the biased media/critics will most probably ignore this movie at award time like they did with Border.
