Heroes

Heroes does have a good premise, but as a whole it is a waste of a good story. This is because Samir Karnik insists making it the old way, with lots of drama, exaggeration and highly unconvincing action scenes. To think of two guys travelling huge distances to meet three different families of slain soldiers and surprise them with letters written by the soldiers before their death during the Kargil war, sounds very promising, but the way the subject is handled is just so amateur old fashioned. This relates in particular to the two last chapters of the three, with Sunny Deol and Mithun Chakraborty, who lost a brother and a son, respectively. As moving as it was, this just didn't work because of flawed direction. The first chapter, however, is a true redeeming quality, which at times even seems to have been made or written by someone else, not that it's perfect in or by itself. Salman Khan and Preity Zinta have brilliant chemistry together, and the part is handled quite sensitively, in addition to having one beautiful song called "Mannata". This, sadly, turns out to be the only truly moving part of the movie, and sadly so, because the concept is most novel, and it's got many famous stars who could have made something out of it. Unfortunately, Karnik cannot really save the film from being uninspiring (though, as said, in parts it is), which is sad because this is clearly its main goal.

Speaking of stars and inspiration, there's one saving grace in Heroes, and it's a huge one because acting-wise, none comes close to Preity Zinta. As Kuljeet Kaur, the young and lonely widow, Zinta utterly steals the show with an amazing performance which is not only the best in the film, but one of the finest of that year in Hindi movies. Her Punjabi dialect is brilliant, but more than that, it is her subtle, understated and authentic portrayal of Kuljeet's anguish, resilience and strength, which stays with you after the show is over (in spite of the fact that, naturally, she does not have a lot of screen time). Her presence alone speaks volumes. It's sad that this inspiring act is wasted in such an average film, but happily, her episode on its own is very good to be worthy of a second watch. Salman Khan is also very effective and natural and fits the role well enough. Mithun Chakraborty is always good, but Sunny Deol is a disappointment. Bobby Deol and Dino Morea are quite okay. Vatsal Sheth and Sohail Khan are not important characters and they do not really word well together, but they are lively enough even though Sohail is sadly but expectedly just not convincing enough. Anyway, Heroes is an average movie with some good moments, namely the first episode and Preity Zinta's performance. Watch only the first one, you may want to proceed, at your own cost.

It breaks my heart to give a 5 star rating to this film. Again like many other Bollywood movies, this one had great potential. The story was new and the movie boasted of such a terrific star cast in Salman Khan, Preity Zinta, Sunny Deol and Mithun da. I would like to request bollywood directors to please never cast Salman again as a Sardar because he did not suited the Surd image at all. He did not looked like a sikh for one moment. And I really fail to understand that why has Sunny Deol to be portrayed as Hulkesque in every movie. Breaking ground with his punches, fighting 15-20 guys despite being a handicap come on.... give us a break. Alright he is strong, he terrorized the entire Pakistan in Gadar, but guys get over it. Let him be a normal man again. Otherwise, the story was good, and I felt that this movie could have had a Rang de Basanti kind of impact. I wish that it would have been made better with some more emotional quotient. This could have been the movie of the year, but bollywood being bollywood, made it what it is. Its alright, we are getting there slowly but still getting there (Hollywood level).

Comparisions to Motorcycle Diarries – lets not go there.

Sohail Khan:: His performance is good in parts. His attempt to be "cool" is annoying while the serious/ emotional side suits him. Should stop showing off his muscular side every time.

Vatsal Seth:: Good looks, but needs more time to mark a stamp about his performance.

Amrita Arora & Riya Sen:: Force fit for the intro song and the inane comedy. The role should have been simply purged.

Mohnish Behl:: Small role but does it well (and age is catching up!)

Chapter #1: The best, IMO. Salman is OK and his patriotic lines seems to be inspired from Sunny's movies. Preity excels (thanks to her stint with the parallel cinema and it shows!). The confession to the uniform is not warranted. The young Jassi leaves a mark.

Chapter #2: Bobby is OK but it is Sunny who messes up big time. He attempts to do a Hum Dono Dev Anand and ends up creating a caricature. And what was Hrishitaa Bhatt was doing there?

Chapter #3:: Dino Morea doesn't have a role at all. Prateeksha Lonkar delivers a good performance. And its is Mithun who gives a performance which belongs to "Bollywood 1980". Now we know why he was lost in oblivion.

The transformation a.k.a enlightenment should have been a natural progression rather than in spikes. And the end was definitely OTT (the grey hair, school, Jassi et all). Why can't it be a silent realisation?

Had more time/ effort spent on screenplay/ script we could have seen another Rang De! And yes the original title "Mera Bharat Mahaan" would have been apt.

Two film school slackers, Ali (Vatsal Sheth) and Sameer (Sohail Khan), are required to make a movie to graduate. They decide they'll make it on "why not to join the Indian Armed Forces". To help with their movie, a war correspondent gives them three letters, each from a Killed In Action soldier, to deliver to the respective families.

One is for Kuljeet Kaur (Preity Zinta), widow of Balkar Singh (Salman Khan). The second is for former Air Force pilot Vikram Shergill (Sunny Deol), from his Army officer brother, Dhananjay (played by Sunny's real-life brother, Bobby Deol). The final letter is to be delivered to a Regiment commander, who in turn gives them one to take to Mr. and Mrs. Naqvi (played by Mithun Chakraborty and Prateeksha Lonkar) from their son Sahil (Dino Morea).

Ali and Sameer find the delivery of these letters takes their film in a direction they never suspected.

The film starts well, but then when our slackers are introduced, becomes a disagreeable slapstick. However, if you get past minutes 8 through 17 (fast forward is my recommendation), you are in for a solidly acted, well-written movie. Most of the songs leave something to be desired, but the love song is quite nice. It's obvious early on that this star-studded tear-jerker is a paean to Mother India, but that agenda doesn't lessen the power of the movie. The viewer is left with both the blatant message "you don't have to be a soldier to love your country", and the satisfaction of a good film.

"Kabhi kabhi ek chota sa kadam, zindagi bhar ka rah ban jata hai." The journey from Delhi to Punjab to Himachal Pradesh, and finally Leh was it for Saand and Nawab Saab. Students of a film academy,Saand and Nawabsaab, have to submit a documentary for their graduation, the topic in jest was decided "Why not to join the Indian Army", but becomes more serious each day. The two guys meet a war journalist who hands them three last letters of soldiers who died in service, Saand and Nawabsaab take it upon themselves to deliver these three letters in hand, and record the experience. Each letter brings with itself a realization of how family and friends of a soldier are affected.

The first letter tells the story of a brave Punjabi soldier Balkaar Singh(Salman Khan), who leaves behind his parents, widow and child. Yet his every decision made his family and friends proud of him.

The second letter tells the story of two brothers(Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol), one in Air Force, one in Army, and how bravery and courage runs in their blood, how they are more than happy to dedicated their life and more to their country.

The third letter takes them to a young man Saahil (Dino Morea), who comes from a family of doctors, but joins the Army in spite of disapproval from his father.

The movie is very pleasant and says there's more to patriotism than war, bullets and politics. The reason the movie works, is because it tells a normal story with a funny bone and gives out subtle messages of patriotism.

In their own small way, Nawabsaab and Saand change the lives of the family of three great soldiers. They have made completed documentary, but does this journey end there? Will Nawaabsaab and Saand make their country proud ? Yes, they will. The ending is very touching.