Andhra Pradesh   

Tale of two lovers caught in crossfire

ENDEARING SAGA: Jimmy Shergill and Minissha in `Yahaan.'

Yahaan (Hindi)

Cast: Jimmy Shergill, Minissha

Director: Shoojit Sircar

Yahaan, debutant director Shoojit Sircar's foray into Kashmir that is untouched, untamed. His heroine, a new girl Minissha, has the same quality.

Her innocence as endearing as her soft looks. His hero, Jimmy Shergill has never been anybody's idea of an action hero, but he has been good in bad films. This time though, he is good in a good film.

So, what is "Yahaan" all about? Well, this latest take on Kashmir is different from the essays of the likes of Mani Ratnam, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and a handful of others. It is not picture postcard Kashmir with the Dal lake, chinar trees and houseboats that we have here.

It is ravaged Kashmir. Plundered by the militants, ruined by the security forces, here the residents live and die in fear of the gun. In such surcharged atmosphere comes an unlikely but plausible love story of a Muslim girl from Kashmir and an Army jawan.

As they meet and blush, talk and rush, the viewers get to see a gently flowing story that lives with understatements. No loud pronouncements of `I love you' from the top of the mountains, no sabre-rattling `Kashmir hamara hai', just a tale of two lovers caught in the crossfire.

There is an issue of patriotism, there are militants untouched by scruples - they kidnap devotees from a mosque - there are jawans not averse to using power to pummel. Amidst all this the camera is the hero.

Casting a spell

It lingers in areas seldom seen before, the brilliant interplay of light and shadow weaving its spell. And the music adds to the charm, bringing with it the pathos of a companion left behind as the caravan rolls.

Yes, the end maybe contrived, yes there are loopholes in narration too - the militant and the beloved reside under the same house, the missing jawan roams on the bridge! But these are blemishes allowed for a first-timer.

Give Sircar time and he might deliver an untainted delight. This one comes with human foibles.

Accept it for the honesty of intent, novelty of content.

ZIYA US SALAM

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