Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Cast: Manoj Bajpai, Ravi Kissan, Deepak Dobriyal, Piyush Mishra, Chitaranjan Giri, Manav Kaul
Director: Amrit Sagar
The story of the forgotten prisoners of war in 1971 was attempted recently in Deewar, Let8217;s Bring The Heroes Home. There was nothing right in Milan Luthria8217;s film, in terms of authenticity and feel.
1971, a return to film-making by the Sagar family, gets almost everything right. The fact that 70 prisoners languished in Pakistani jails after the Bangladesh war is well documented. But Amrit Ramanand8217;s grandson Sagar8217;s film, which focuses on the six soldiers who tried escaping from the Chaklala camp through snow-bound mountain reaches, putting us in mind of all the great escape movies made in Hollywood in the 70s, gives us flesh and blood and real feelings.
The camaraderie between the soldiers is brought out beautifully: there are no superfluous heroines, so the men get to sing the songs as well. Lovely camerawork, and a great ensemble cast, headed by Manoj Bajpai, who proves himself a valiant leader of men, and ably supported by Ravi Kissen, Deepak Dobriyal, Kumud Mishra and a whole bunch of others, makes the movie both worthwhile and stirring. If only it was half an hour shorter. And if only it were better publicised: in all, there were about six people in the theatre.
