Mission Kashmir

"Mission Kashmir" (MK) was one of the most anticipated films of 2000. The film was hyped even before its release and compared to the other big-budget blockbuster of the year - "Mohabbatein". Frankly, I think MK has outdone "Mohabbatein" on most counts. The story of MK is about a Altaf, a small boy orphaned by masked police men headed by a dedicated officer, Inayat Khan (Sanjay Dutt) when they kill Altaf's defenceless family during a firefight with militants. However, Khan tries to make up for this tragedy by adopting Altaf as his son. Just as Altaf is slowly recovering from the terrible shock of losing his real parents, he realises that Inayat Khan is the same masked officer who killed them. In anger and frustration, he flees the house and grows up to be Altaf, the militant (Hrithik Roshan). Altaf is brought up by famed guerilla fighter Hilal Kohistani (Jackie Shroff) and returns to the beautiful valleys of Kashmir 10 years later to perform the top secret 'Mission Kashmir'.

What makes this is a great film to watch is its technical brilliance and good performances by its actors. Sanjay Dutt has given an outstanding performance in the film, supported well by Hrithik Roshan, Jackie Shroff and Sonali Kulkarni. Sanjay Dutt proves his versatility with this film and so does Hrithik Roshan. With just 2 films before this one, Hrithik exudes confidence equal to that of a veteran actor. Sonali Kulkarni, in her cameo role, has done a pretty good job, stressing the fact that if there are good roles in Hindi films, you can expect good performances. Preity Zinta, who plays Sufiya Parvez is also pretty good as Hrithik's childhood sweetheart. But Sanjay Dutt really steals the show. The action scenes are the one of the best I have seen in Hindi films and the film is technically sound. The music is satisfying, but could have been better. Having directed great films in the past (eg. Parinda, Khamosh and 1942: A Love Story) Vidhu Vinod Chopra does a great job once again.

Overall, this film is a welcome break from other Hindi action films. Although it did not do as well as expected at the box-office, I believe "Mission Kashmir" is worth watching!

To an American, especially a post-9/11 American, the idea of a "terrorist musical" would seem outrageous and naive. It would be grossly unfair to make fun of this film in that way, though; MK defies classification in Hollywood genres. The diapason of themes in this movie is impressive and, to quote Roger Ebert, one actually cares what happens to these people, even the unholy maker-of-fatwas Hilal. A young man's flirtation with extremism is teated, as well as the little-understood Hindu-Moslem, and little-known Russian-Pathan dynamics. I loved the scenery and cinematography, and was very interested to hear about the symbolism from the other IMDb commenter's.

When I saw KHAMOSH, also directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, I thought it was the worst movie ever. I thought that Chopra was a terrible director. Then, I saw MISSION KASHMIR.

MISSION KASHMIR has a rather confusing line if you don't follow it completely. Inayat Khan (Sanjay Dutt) is a Kashmiri cop whose son falls from a second-story window by accident. No doctor treats the boy in fear of a fatwah issued by a terrorist named Malik-ul-Khan. The boy dies.

Blinded with fury, Khan organizes a raid on a house Malik-ul-Khan is staying at. Unknown to the police, the house is owned by an innocent family of four and Malik-ul-Khan is there merely as an uninvited guest. During the raid, all terrorists and almost all members of the family are shot down. The only survivor is the ten-year-old boy Altaaf.

Khan adopts Altaaf, but is continuously fearing that the boy will one day realize that he was the masked man who killed his family. One day, Altaaf finds the mask and realizes the truth. He attempts to murder his foster father and runs away.

Years later, an ex-Mujahiddin Pathan radical terrorist named Hilal (brilliantly portrayed by Jackie Shroff) is in search of a brave soldier to help him in his jihad and in a top secret mission code-named Mission Kashmir. Who else does he pick, but his "baccha" (child) Altaaf (Hrithik Roshan)?

Along the way, we meet the beautiful and playful TV reporter Sufiya Pervez (Preity Zinta).

MISSION KASHMIR is no ordinary action movie. It is actually more of a drama set on a violent background. Don't misunderstand me; action lovers will be thrilled by this film.

The special effects of MISSION KASHMIR are extraordinary and the music and songs are the best I've seen in years. One thing I used to dislike about many films was that there would be songs where they did not belong. The songs here are well-worded and absolutely appropriate.

Jackie Shroff's portrayal of Hilal is equally outstanding. One can take a look at his eyes and realize that this man is a fanatic.

If MISSION KASHMIR were an American film, it would receive the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Actor (Hrithik Roshan), Best Actress (Preity Zinta), Best Director (Vidhu Vinod Chopra), Best Supporting Actor (Jackie Shroff), Best Supporting Actress (Sonali Kulkarni), Best Music, and Best Special Effects.

Simply an outstanding film.

9.5 out of 10

I decided to continue my phase of watching Bollywood movies which I have not seen in a while and I stumbled upon Mission Kashmir , although I try to avoid very sensitive subjects regarding this the issue of Kashmir and the way Bollywood has a reputation for portraying Muslims these days I had decided to put these views to one side and view this movie and to my surprise it was nothing what I had expected it to. The film has elements of love,faith,hate and other various things so cleverly woven into it that it fits in very nicely and moves the film along at a good pace. The movie also wasted no time in getting under way with plenty of twist and turns and some good dialogue and truly some moving scenes and not to mention the fact that it was beautifully shot giving us the flora and fauna of Kashmir and the grim , ugly depiction of war. The acting from nearly everyone was up to scratch including Hitrik Roshan who I felt was a little cheesy and mousy at times but he carried him-self well, my only complaints were that the songs in this one were a little too long and that caused the film to drift a bit and I felt the Islamic terrorists were well again a little tooo clichéd as if Bollywood has been watching Hollywood a too much. But having said that , Mission Kashmir was defiantly an entertaining but yet at the same time moving, thought provoking picture which is must be checked out by Bollywood fans.

MISSION: KASHMIR - 8.5 OUT 10

TWO BRAVE MEN BATTLE EACH OTHER ...AND PARADISE BURNS!

English Audio dubbing has been made available on the DVDs that can now be rented at Hollywood Video & Blockbuster.

The dubbing is flawless! And I think the movie is a true neutral view of the Kashmir Situation.

Good job!