SHAURYA – The Movie

There are movies where you come out of the hall happy, sad, disgusted, bored or even horrified. But there would be only a few movies you would come out dumb-struck. RDB, Bombay, Kannathil Mutham Ittal, Anbe Sivam to name a few. Shaurya will definitely fall into this list. Apart from the “off-beat” movies that hit the screen, not many movies in India are made which can be categorized as Drama. Very less when compared to Hollywood atleast. And when a movie like Shaurya comes, it is a breath of fresh air for movie lovers.

Shaurya is an army movie. I heard it is an adaptation of the book, “A few good Men”. But I care less. In hindi movies the only army related things shown till now would be how to kill the pakis and how India was done proud. But Shaurya deals with the lives of army personnel. Rahul Bose & Javed Jaffri play the roles of advocates in the Indian Army. Rahul Bose is the guy who does not know what he is doing as a lawyer. And the story revolves around a case where “Javed Khan” is accused of murdering his superior and faces court martial. Both Rahul Bose and JJ play their part to perfection. I was glad to see JJ doing a sensible role after such a long time. Minisha Lamba and the guy who plays “Javed Khan” (I surely will update his name in this space!) play the role aptly. Minisha plays the role of a Journalist who prompts a turn around for Rahul Bose to take the case up seriously. Amrita rao appears in a cameo as well.

If you thought Rahul Bose was playing a great role in the movie, there comes KK. He is there in the movie for only around 20 minutes. And in those 20 mins he gives such a power packed performance that would rank him amongst the best actors in the country. I was in awe of the precision with which he played the role. And in the ending scenes I actually felt as if I am watching a real court martial! KK makes a superb actor like Rahul Bose look mediocre.

The way in which the issues happening in Kashmir is plainly shown, without any filmy stuffs added to it. A strong message in the movie is put across. The scene where the superior kills villagers mercilessly runs a chill down your spine. Just goes on to show a classic movies do not require crappy comedy or cheap publicity or over-marketing or rakhi sawant dance. I hope this movie goes on to be successful in the market which might lead to many more such movies being produced.

Brilliant screenplay and direction by Samar Khan, a relatively new director. Nice cinematography (Srinagar – always looks beautiful!) and a decent music score by Adnan Sami. But the movie is high on performances. I sure will get myself a DVD of the movie!

Star of the movie: KK

Point Table: 4.5/5

Reco: Must Watch