Gadar – Ek Prem Katha Review {3/5} & Review Rating
Zee Network?s GADAR-EK PREM KATHA, directed by Anil Sharma, is set in 1947. The film tells the story of a truck driver, Tara Singh (Sunny Deol), a Sikh, who falls in love with a Muslim girl, Sakina (Amisha Patel), belonging to an aristocratic family.
During the Hindu-Muslim riots that erupted soon after the partition, Tara saves Sakina from a murderous mob chasing her. Subsequently, Sakina starts living in Tara?s house and the respect culminates into love.
Sakina and Tara get married and become parents of a baby-boy. Their life seems like a bed of roses, till Sakina lays her hands on an old newspaper that has a photograph of her father (Amrish Puri), who she believes had been killed during the riots that took place during the partition.
The father is now the Mayor of Lahore and when Sakina calls him from the Pakistani Consulate in Delhi, he arranges to fly her to Lahore. But Tara and their son, who are supposed to accompany her to Lahore, are told at the last minute that their visa formalities have not been completed, which compels them to stay back on the Indian soil.
Sakina reaches Lahore but is totally oblivious of her father?s plans, who wants her to get married to a Pakistani, take up politics as her career and forget all about India, her marriage and her son. After a long wait, an agitated Tara heads lands up in Lahore to get his wife back, but faces the ire of Sakina?s father and relatives.
GADAR relocates you to an era when the British sowed the seeds of hatred between Hindus and Muslims and divided India into two nations ? India and Pakistan. A work of fiction, the film tells the story of two individuals, belonging to different religions, who fall in love with each other and the hardships they face before they return to their roots.
The first two reels of this 3.05-hour saga blow your mind with the realistic portrayal of incidents that transpired during the partition. The killing of innocent youth in the name of religion sends a chill down the spine, so realistic is the portrayal.
The sequences thereafter, when Sunny saves Amisha from the mob and gets her home, have been handled with the sensitivity they deserve. Even the sequence prior to this, when Amisha separates from her parents at Amritsar station, makes you realise that partition wasn?t an easy task.
The pace is maintained in the post-interval portions too. The goings-on get exciting when Sunny arrives in Lahore in search of his wife, on the day of her marriage to a Pakistani. The confrontation thereafter, when Amrish Puri tells Sunny to embrace Islam and start living in Pakistan, keeps the viewer spellbound. Even the sequence thereafter, i.e. Sunny going on a rampage when Amrish Puri ridicules India, is a strong point of the film.
But the film is not without faults. The biggest flaw of the enterprise is that it tends to get formula-oriented and clich?idden at times. The lovers break into a song at regular intervals, which seems okay the first two times, but not when it becomes a habit.
Also, one of the songs is totally out of sync with the mood of the film. This song (?Hum Juda Ho Gaye?), which shows Amisha breaking into a dance soon after her father has vowed that she will be forced to live in Pakistan, seems totally out of context and must be deleted instantaneously.
Even otherwise, the music (Uttam Singh) is the sore point of the film. There is not one song that you recollect after the show has ended, with the sole exception of ?Udja Kale Kawan?, mainly because the song features four/five times in the film.
Even the climax is long drawn and needs to be trimmed to make the impact look forceful. The train sequence is brilliantly shot, but the special effects look tacky.
Despite the flaws, GADAR is engaging thanks to the dramatic and confrontation scenes in the film. Director Anil Sharma, whose last attempt was the forgettable MAHARAJA, is in form once again, handling the Sunny-Amrish Puri confrontations with brilliance.
As mentioned earlier, the initial reels and also the mob scenes in the latter portions are expertly executed. The credit also goes to the writer (Shaktimaan), who has recreated the bygone era without diversifying into various sub-plots, like most script writers do.
Tinu Verma?s action sequences are first-rate. Actually, they are one of the strong points of the film. Cinematography captures the mood of the 1940s and 50s to perfection. The background score is effective.
To state that GADAR belongs to Sunny Deol would be an understatement. It?s difficult to imagine any other actor essaying this role with precision. The actor takes to the character like a fish takes to water and emerges triumphant.
Despite being one-film-old, Amisha Patel deserves full marks for handling the complex role with elegance. She looks the character she is portraying and impresses with a natural performance. Amrish Puri is superb in a negative role. Lillete Dubey scores yet again. Vivek Shauq, as Sunny?s friend, supports well.
On the whole, GADAR is worth the watch for its brilliant dramatic and confrontation sequences, splendid performances and touching moments that overpower the two flaws in the film ? the excessive length (the narrative needs to be trimmed by at least 15 minutes in the second half!) and a weak musical score. At the box-office, the film will do exceedingly well in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab and even in the other territories, will find flavour with the cinegoers. But the clash with another biggie (LAGAAN) will affect the business prospects marginally.
