Dec 18, 2006 07:55 AM
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Let me admit at the very outset - I do not admire Yashraj Films, however, I also do admire them.
I do not admire them on their creativity aspect. They have just stck to the conventions and the stereotype for so many decades in the filmdom.
I admire them primarily for their business strategies - investing money and giving chances to young aspiring filmmakers who have interesting stories to tell and this they do without getting self-indulgent.
They offer the director go the whole yard to accomplish his vision and more importantly the way he has seen it in his creative images.
So here we are - A young documentary filmmaker - Kabir Khan, who wants to present to the Indian audiences, the story of a war-ravaged Afghanistan in the post-9/11 world.
About Kabul Express - September 11, 2001 - Twin Towers of World Trade Center, New York, US, came crashing down. And the entire world's attention turned towards a small country in Asia, which has been at center of war for over two decades - Afghanistan.
The Taliban and Osama Bin Laden, who were trained and used by the US against Russia, had become villains. They were the most wanted men in the world. The war on terror was built up and sold to the sntire world including the Asian giants like India and Pakistan. India bought the ideology voluntarily and Pakistan bought the same under immense pressure and also becasue they had a vested interest. In doing so, Pakistan had now dumped Afghanistan, Talibs and even their own soldiers who had gone to Afghanistan to fight along with Taliban.
Kabir Khan's debut deals with all these issues and also dares to show the world that not all Talibs are/were villains. During those 2hrs, the movie draws clever parallels between the US and Pakistan. It also shows the possible volatile and ruined future of countries like India and Pakistan for their dependence on the US.
With so many issues and so much of stuff packed in, the movie could have got verbose, but Kabir Khan being a documentary filmmaker, has relied more on the visuals of detroyed Kabul to convey the story and the dialogues act as fillers. They are basically argumentative. It's an argument on personal choices than international politics.
The director and the cameraman have captured some visceral images like hotels, tanks and buildings destoyed. A boy with just one leg. Some of these images are extremely poignant.
The tech team of the film deserves distinction marks for the way the movie has been structured and shot.
Editing is sharp and the songless nature only helps the film. Dialogues are natural and life-like.
Performancewise, the film belongs to Arshad Warsi, Salman Shahid and Hanif Hum Ghum. A top notch effort indeed.
Kabir Khan deserves a pat on the back for giving a good debatable film.
Thanks Kabir for giving us Kabul Express !!! Make more of such films !
