Genre: Patriotic Drama.
Director: Kayoze Irani.
Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kajol, Ibrahim Ali Khan.
Sarzameen, a movie based mainly on a soldier’s love for his country and his predicament of having to choose between family and nation, boasts of some powerful performances and beautiful cinematography. But then, is the story a bit too familiar?
Read on.
Colonel Vijay Menon, played by Prithviraj Sukumaran, is an honest Army officer, posted in Kashmir with his wife Mehr (Kajol) and son Harman. Vijay is macho, strong and a bit too proud of his Army legacy. He expects his son to follow his footsteps, but much to his disappointment, Harman is a weak and sickly kid who stammers and often gets beaten up by his peers. Father and son share a strained relationship, with Vijay being pretty vocal about the embarrassment that Harman is.
And Mehr is torn between the two, taxing her emotionally.
One of those days, Harman gets kidnapped and Vijay refuses to negotiate with the perpetrators, all for national interest. Harman gets to know about this, but a few years later, he reappears, and how!!
Will Vijay soften? Will they have a happily ever after? Or is Harman out to seek vengeance? This forms the crux of Sarzameen and somehow it reminded me of Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachhan starrer Shakti.
What works for Sarzameen, is it’s cast, the 3 protagonists. Not that they are brilliant, but Prithviraj, Kajol and Ibrahim play their parts convincingly. There are some sensitive scenes, like the one where Harman calls up his mother and freezes hearing her voice. Or when Vijay looks into his son’s eyes, desperately searching for some humanity, his eyes brimming with silent tears. His dilemma, when he comes face to face with Harman, moves you with emotion. These moments have been treated very subtly, the actors emoting with their eyes.
The photography is par excellence. Kashmir in all it’s glory, with snow capped mountains and pine trees, looks breath taking indeed. There’s no vulgarity whatsoever, Sarzameen is classy, a far cry from the regular OTT content.
But then, that’s it. Sadly, the flaws are more prominent.
Predictable, highly.
From the beginning, to the end (well almost), you know what is about to happen, there’s hardly any surprise element or thrill. The second half drags on, with the same conversations over and over again, father and son conflicts.
Colonel Vijay mouths his patriotism in every other dialogue, like, “Sarzameen ke aage mera beta kuch nahi.” And many more of this kind. So much so, that it gets increasingly repetitive after a certain point. I ended up feeling, “Bas karo Yaar, I understood. Nation before family, got it.”
There is some action yes, but nothing to talk home about. A skidding truck, exploding bombs, and the heroes surviving half a dozen bullets to their chests and the villain succumbing to just one, well, none that you haven’t seen before.
The music is warm, but not all that hum-worthy.
Chemistry, that’s definitely missing between Prithviraj and Kajol. Harman grows up from a child artist to Ibrahim Ali Khan, but Prithviraj and Kajol don’t age a bit, trust me, not a strand of grey. Moreover, Prithviraj Sukumaran looks too young to play Ibrahim Ali Khan’s father. Kajol looks stunning and fits the mother’s part. Ibrahim Ali Khan and Prithviraj are good too, sadly they are stuck with very limited characterization, not bagging enough to explore their skills.
But nothing can beat the let-down that is the climax. The final ten minutes, which were supposed to bring in the much-needed excitement to this otherwise boring fare, falter hopelessly. So forced and out of place does that twist look, I almost ended up laughing. There was a frantic need for a mystery element, which the makers thought this angle would help, but all of it looks implausible.
All said and done, Sarzameen offers nothing new as such, but nevertheless, can be given a shot, for the fine performances, finesse and gorgeous locales.
Don’t expect too much and you might not be disappointed.
By Preethi Warrier
Preethi Warrier has completed her Masters in Electronics Engineering and is an Assistant Professor. She is one among the winners of the TOI Write India Campaign Season-1, for the famous author Anita Nair. She can be contacted at : warrier.preethi@yahoo.com
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