This is a war film but with a big
difference, like never before seen in the context of Tollywood. While grandiose
may be its middle name and the film makers have sure parted with a jolly good
of money in its making, what stands out is the creativity and the novelty. For
once we have a debutant film maker who dares to dream and convert his dream
substantially into an absorbing reality. Also, film maker debutant Sankalp
Reddy does not tread the familiar rough terrain of the army – the barometer of
mainstream patriotism. He dares to tell the rare story of a mission that
inexplicably has not found the pride of place in the ‘war history’ of the
nation. In the course of his masterpiece Winds of War, Herman Wouk says: “It
occurred to me that our human values, our ideas of right and wrong, good and
bad, evolved in simpler times, before there were machines.” Conscious
of this the film maker researches the plot of submarine and under water attacks
before he scripts (jointly with S Niranjan Reddy – a wonderfully great lawyer)
the absorbing saga.
There is not too much to say about the story. Two top Naval officers, Ran Vijay
Singh (Kay Kay Menon) and Arjun Varma (Rana Daggubati) are on a special
assignment to be prepared for a possible water attack by Pakistan during the
Bangla Liberation War. Vijay is the trigger-happy officer who has lost a dear
one on the battle field and is rearing to go. Arjun is out to ensure balance and
calm. To balance them is Devraj (Atul Kulkarni). The Pak side headed by the
Captain Commander Razaq (Rahul Singh). The underwater attack and how India is
victorious is what the story is all about.
The film is not so much about the story. It is how it is navigated. Heroics,
not hatred is central to wars. Caught in the cross fire of political calls are
men who barter their life for honour of their nation. Unmindful of consequences
and uninformed of the faces that could be the victims of their attack, they are
out there so that we may live in safety. The first half of the film is well
researched and told with the right degree of balance. It eschews jingoism and
Pak baiting. It appeals to the mind. However, the hunger of the young film
maker to succeed and be known gets the better of him in the later half. To
revert in the context to Herman Wouk. He said: The Navy is a master plan
designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you are not an idiot, but find
yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one. All
the shortcuts and economies and common-sense changes that your native
intelligence suggests to you are mistakes. Learn to quash them. Constantly ask
yourself, “How would I do this if I were a fool?” Throttle down your mind to a crawl.
Then you will never go wrong.”
The film maker makes sure he does not go wrong. The film’s cinematography
(Madhi) makes for compulsive viewing. Bereft of scenic beauty the film’s
cinematography ensures it is in perfect tandem with the mood of the theme. Then
there is a high voltage cast – while Om Puri’s swan song is nothing to write
home about Rana adds the right hunk quotient and is likely to be a huge draw at
the box office. The film however belongs, apart from the director to the
brilliance of Kay Kay Menon. With patriotism being the flavour of the season,
the film is not just well timed but made with dare and bravery. The willingness
to tell a story of this kind is surely to tread the road least travelled. If
for nothing let’s watch this engrossing amazing hitherto untried film and join
poet Pradeep who said: Jo Shaheed hue hai unki zara yaad karo qurbani.
Rating: 3.5 stars
+ Sankalp, KK, Rana.
– Post interval jingoism
L. Ravichander