1971: The movie

Every once in a while there comes a movie that surprises you. It surprises you because you never gave the movie any chance. It surprises you because it tells a new story (not borrowed from the nearby DVD library…even the recently celebrated Bheja Fry is after all an imitation of a european comedy) and it tells you the story with a honesty that wins your heart.
Some years ago Arshad Warsi immortalised his ‘circuit’ in the Munnabhai franchise and we thought that he was a great comedian. Till I happened to see this brilliant movie ‘Seher’. Leading a motley crew of superb character artistes (including Pankaj Kapoor and Sushant Singh), Warsi turned in a lifetime performance. The movie was undoubtedly a result of meticulous research and was told straight from heart. Unfortunately, very few actually watched it. It remains one of my favourites to this day.
And so it happened with an obscure movie that got released earlier this year: 1971. Although coming from the house of Ramanand Sagar, this movie had surprisingly been a decidedly low key affair. As I personally hold responsible Mr. Ramanand Sagar for the now popular three-slow-motion-shots-from-three-different-angles-with drumbeats-with same-expressions as the vamps in today’s serials plan their next moves, I wasn’t very sure what to expect from this another ‘Sagar’. My fears were unfounded, as it turned out. Amrit Sagar, in fact, is a genius.
Let me say it: 1971 is a great movie. Undoubtedly the most engaging war related movie to come out in a decade or so. Actually, its not so much about war. Its about Indian POWs languishing in the Pakistani Jails from the 1971 war. The movie is all about the attempt of six indian POWs to escape the prison and hoping to make it to their motherland: Hindustan.
The first thing that Amrit Sagar gets right is the casting. Manoj Bajpayee and Ravi Kissen being the two most identifiable faces but more than ably supported by the other character actors who give the movie the most authentic feel. Watch them breaking into a jig as the news of their imminent release reaches them. Sure to bring tears to your eyes. Tears of joy, I mean. They escape the camp and as the chase turn more desperate, one by one the soldiers go down fighting for the larger goal. As it nears the end, you increasingly begin to hope against hope for their safe escape but you know the truth. The end is heart-breaking and as the credits roll on the screen, you can’t help but think about the fate of those unlucky, forgotten ones on the other side of the fence.
Its very close to being a perfect movie. Like Seher this one also stays with you long after its over. The movie never loses its pace, no sidetracks about the love interests of the PoWs and keeps you glued.
You start wondering why was this movie such a big failure at the box office.
Was it the absence of a 14 minute song picturised on soldiers about their longing for their homes?
Was it the absence of a interlude where each POW goes into flashback and makes love to his spouse?
Was it the absence of a screaming Punjab-da-puttar that failed to bring the masses to the theatre?

Whatever it was, it’s the loss for those who love good cinema.
Watch it.