Gadar - Ek Prem Katha [dir. Anil Sharma]

In preparation for the sequel now showing in the cinemas, I watched 2001's Gadar - Ek Prem Katha (The Revolt - A Love Story). Confession, this is the first time I have seen the whole film, as opposed to bits and pieces, mostly from its crazy climax. At the time of Gadar's theatrical release I was more a Lagaan fanboy, and this was the 'rival' film. I have to say, flaws notwithstanding this is a "propah" old-skool Bollywood masala drama, probably the best film in Anil Sharma's career. Of course, that in itself that is hardly high praise: Sharma made his name in the industry with camp fodder like Hukumat (1987), Elaan-e-Jung (1989) and Tahalka (1992). His Farishtay (1991) was so disgusting in its crass humor I had to switch off after a bit on account of the ick factor. But something about Gadar appears to have clicked with the man; in consequence he has turned out a film with both craft and heart.

Gadar's story (loosely adapted from the real-life tragedy of one Boota Singh) is an archetype grandiose Bollywood romance drama set against the backdrop of post-independence India-Pakistan. Headliner Sunny Deol plays turban-clad Jat trucker Tara Singh, with Jaspal Bhatti alumnus Vivek Shauq as his comic sidekick. Tara Singh has the hots for upper-class Muslim student Sakina (Amisha Patel). When the partition of India happens, Sakina's family after narrowly escaping massacre in the Hindu-Muslim riots boards the train to Pakistan, but she gets caught in the stampede and is left behind. Later she hears that her family was killed enroute to Lahore. The gallant Tara rescues her from Hindu attackers and offers to escort her to relatives in Lahore. She opts to settle with him in India, and they bear a child as well. Later Sakina discovers her family alive and well in Pakistan, and it is arranged that she will visit them with her husband and son.

Alas, her father Ashraf Ali (Amrish Puri) is a prominent Pakistani politician and a bigot that hates India with a passion. In a bid to cut off his daughter's connections with the former homeland, he deceives her into traveling alone, then holds her captive in Lahore using emotional blackmail. Sensing that all is not right with Sakina, Tara decides he has to enter Lahore and get her back, even if it carries the deadly risk of being considered a spy. When his peaceful approaches with her high-placed family fail, our humble trucker wages a one-man war against a virtual battalion of the Pakistani armed forces.

The chemistry between the lead pair of Deol and Amisha Patel works well for Gadar and is the driving factor for on-screen events. You like the couple, and cheer for their attempts to come together. Sakina is inconsistent in the writing: Sometimes she is a total wallflower, reduced to crying in bed waiting for her "shohar" (husband) to rescue her, while in others she spiritedly defies her captors. In the climax she is even cocking a rifle, ready to fire at the military pursuers hunting her family. Still, Amisha conveys the right amount of sweetness for the part and comes across more dignified than most of her later on-screen and off-screen appearances. It has been my (snobbish) opinion that Sunny Deol plays the bulk of his characters with the subtlety of a truck driver / stevedore, so he is aptly cast in the trucker's part (although the accent he uses to address Sakina as "Madam ji" betrays a convent school education than how an actual illiterate person would say it). His Tara Singh displays an openhearted bonhomie in his happy moments, and when he gives vent to his anger, you sympathize and cheer for him. Veteran thespian Amrish Puri as Sakina's father gives a layered portrayal of villainy, caught between his possessive love for his daughter and his hatred for Indians.

Up to a point Gadar is fairly restrained compared to Sharma's other films (even though Deol always has the ability to beat up scores of people, and in one iconic scene, pulls out a hand-pump by its roots to clobber a mob). The climax involves Tara Singh & Co commandeering a goods train while they are pursued by convoys of soldiers and even an attack helicopter. It's ridiculous, but unabashedly so, and reminds one of the extravagant climaxes from Buster Keaton's The General, and Jackie Chan's Police Story 3: Supercop (reviewed HERE). Apart from a mid-movie slump where multiple song sequences are bunched together, Gadar is surprisingly well-paced by Bollywood standards; the 2hr56min experience was less of a slog than I feared. I only hope the sequel maintains that same trait.

The full movie is available to view (without subtitles) on the Zee Movies Hindi channel on Youtube: