A lot of movies have been made on the subject of Painful period of India and Pakistan’s history. Those movies haven’t done any wonders at the box office. However,it still remains a favourite with the filmmakers who dare to take the untreaded path.
‘Kya Dilli Kya Lahore‘ is just that kind of movie. The movie has not been made with an aim to set the box office on fire (nor will it be able to do that). But then,that’s not really why films are made(at least some thnk so).
So how good is this Cross-Border flick? Read on..
Plot :
Way back in 1948, A Pakistani soldier (Vijay Raaz) strays into Indian territory and gets embroiled in a bitter-sweet verbal-physical duel with an Indian soldier (Manu Rishi). How they take this conversation ahead, along with some cheeky one-liners and brilliant narration, forms the rest of the story.
All in all, the movie is just a satirical take on the painful period of India and Pakistan’s history.
Performances and Technical Aspects :
Vijay Raaz, one of the lead protagonists, playing the Pakistani Soldier is hysterical. He does justice to his role and doesn’t let the feeling of hatred crop up in the audiences’ minds. That’s how convincing he was as the Pakistani Soldier!
He also dons the Director’s hat for this one and boy does he impress! He keeps the proceedings even-paced and free of techno-generated upheavals. Certainly a brave and laudable attempt at direction!
The other lead protagonist, Manu Rishi, playing the Indian Soldier is hilarious. The actor delivers a stellar performance against a very versatile co-star on screen. Definitely the future of ‘Character-driven films’. Manu Rishi has not only acted, but also written the dialogues in the movie. And what a fine job Manu has done!
Gulzar Saab’s narration is what can be called, “Poetry in motion!”. His distinctive voice, impeccably effective narration gives an emotional feel to the proceedings.
Hawk-Eye Analysis :
They don’t make movies like these. Not any more. Not too often in the past. Several years ago, Sunil Dutt shot Yaadein with just one character on screen throughout. In Kya Dilli Kya Lahore there are two characters, both representational and yet so finely played out that they emerge from the house of mutual distrust as memorable individuals.
The verbal sparring between the two soldiers could have easily lapsed into cheap name-calling between the two sides.
Resisting every provocation to get nasty, the dialogues take digs at India-Pakistan differences without losing their basic sense of humour.
The two actors are mostly left to their own devices. The end-result is a film of tremendous warmth and wisdom.
Dialogues such as, “Your watch says it’s 7 p.m. when ours says it’s 6.30 p.m. You people will always be behind us.” lighten up the screen and leaves the audiences in splits.
The tagline of the film ‘They met us enemies, Parted as friends’ pretty much sums up the entire feel of the film.
Final Verdict :
This is not the one which you go out and watch with your family on a weekend. Watch it if you’re a fan of Gulzar Saab’s poetry and if you’re open to some cheeky humour on the sensitive India-Pakistan relations.
