Ray
The Master recorded a half century of centuries yesterday. However, it was greatly and I mean greatly soured by India's heavy defeat by South Africa at the Centurion. On the fifth and final day, however I was bemused by Sachin's approach as he did not farm the strike and led Sreesanth and debutant Unadkat to the slaughter and before time it was all over with Tendulkar remaining unbeaten.

Great achievement but remembered for the wrong reason. Long live the Master.
Ray
The oppressed is history

A stupor-inducing drama that lacks insight

You can't help but appreciate Gowariker's approach to film-making. Earnest, honest and his constant homage to the Motherland. However, like an overbearing parent, there is this constant tendency to overdo the businesslike demeanor, that is like to only look and be smug about the overall percentage scored by a severely welted boy but ignore the gaping hole of a D grade in History.

Because as a history lesson, this movie gets an A but on the character front it scores an unremarkable F. The movie talks about a lesser known revolution that is based on a book - Manini Chatterjee’s Do & Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34. The opening scenes show a group of boys playing football on a dusty field before the British usurp it in their typical manner. So they contact Surjya Sen, a local schoolmaster who they think because of his connections with freedom fighters might help the boys get their tract back. However Surjya has bigger plans and enlists them for a bloody revolution of stealing arms and money from the English.

The story-telling here is so simplistic that during the course of the training of the young ones, a scene is played where they are explained what chloroform is and what a musket of a gun is. Lots of time is wasted on showing the enlistment of the greenhorns.

We know what the filmmaker wants us to feel - that how can one man be so heartless as to lead such youthful baby fat pouting boys like lambs to the slaughter. But for that he doesn't give us one opening into boys'families. What do they feel like? What are they leaving behind to undertake such a huge sacrifice. In a similar scene, when Kolpona donates her jewellery for the cause, we dont care. We never saw her in a fashionable attire before to actually feel her loss. Most frustrating is the lack explanation about who is Surjya Sen. Is he just a school teacher or does he have more flesh to himself. He is the leader of this war, what about his perspective? The entire first half is dotted with such brain-dead sequences.

It is the second half that springs to life mainly because, the movie has metamorphosed into an action flick. The daring robbery, the escape from certain death and persecution and the inevitable manhunt and martyrdom is because of jingoistic reasons always stimulating to watch. After a while though that too loses its sheen as Gowariker in his usual style does away with all subtleties and goes for bombastic drama.

Deepika cannot act period!. There is something so unnatural about her. And it might not be even her fault. Even when clad in the dullest of dullest khaki sarees, she looks like she might have landed from a Manish Malhotra Mahatma's austerity themed show. She is just too upscale to fit the part. Abhishek does what Abhishek does. Hams, shows the occasional glimpse of an acting gene and then settles for the average to mediocre slot on the acting scale. The best of the lot is definitely Sikander Kher with his brooding looks looking apt for the role. The teenagers who play the young revolutionaries are infact very sprightly and bring about a sense of earthiness to the proceedings.

KHJJS is a highly soporific drama that drives one to grogginess with its mundane dialogues and uninspired acting. The Chittagong Uprising is better served by remaining in our books alone.

Rating : 1.5/5