LOC: Kargil

I have come to the conclusion that Bollywood does not know how to make War Films. A plain vanilla Documentary would have made more justice to the Martyr's of the kargil. The movie is agonsingly long, too many charecters that hoover over a lost script, a technical disaster and repetious to the core. The filmmaker has tried his best to lend auntheticity by using the real terrain but after an hour of the movie it is like Dejavue. The problem I see is Amateur consultants and dialogue that dilutes the theme and reduces the content to a mear childrens play. Bollywood is the leader when it comes to Musical but when it comes to aunthenticity in depicting a war and special effects the two Movies that come close are "The Hero" and "Gadar-Ek Prem Katha". This movie is an unmitigated disaster even though the Producers intentions were laudable and Patriotic.

First of all, the movie was 4 hours long. Normally it wouldn't be that much of a problem, but I think in LoC the movie just dragged on for too long. The assortment of actors and actors is incredible, save that fool Sunjay Dutt: his acting alone ruins any of the talent of the other actors. Usually I wouldn't be so harsh but I think in LoC he's especially bad. The dialogue is also way too deep; my 9 year old sister was really struggling with just following the plot. Moreover, I think the movie is too concerned with being popular with audiences than what the original screenwriters perhaps intended. What I mean is simply - the movie had the potential to send a strong message about the war, but the director got too bogged down with flaunting the cast, so much of the seriousness of the movie becomes lost. I think there's a shortage of good movies on all the fighting and violence that's going on, so part of my displeasure at LoC stems from that frustration; the younger generations of India, and indeed, of the world, need to be well-informed about the atrocities that are occurring. Movies like LoC turn the seriousness of the situation into a big joke. Slowly, we're brainwashing people and normalizing people to the idea that violence in the world is not as terrible, when in fact we need to be teaching the opposite. I think it'd be a waste of time to watch this movie, and while I was dumb enough to see it (I plead ignorance), I urge the denizens of the world to boycott this movie and any future movie that fails to relay the significance of world politics and makes a mockery out of war.

LOC is one of the most moving movies ever made. The movie is based on the war that actually happened in Kargil between India and Pakistan. LOC is a tribute, a homage to our brave and selfless soldiers who have laid down their lives to safeguard ours. This movie has made me realize the extent of sacrifice a soldier makes to protect us scores of civilians most of whom he does not even know. It has made me see them in a completely different light and i cannot help but appreciate the effort of a film maker who has tried to immortalize their sacrifice on the celluloid.

The movie is long. But that is because the script demands it. The movie has an amazing cast and everyone has given outstanding performances. It is an emotional journey and a saga of unseen bravery and unimaginable strength of character.

The film's characters represent the Kargil martyrs and the other brave soldiers of the Indian Army. So you have Captain Anuj Nayyar, Captain Vikram Batra, Lieutenant Manoj Pandey, Lieutenant Colonel Y K Joshi and many of the other brave men who authored the script that made India the winner in the Kargil war. It captures their valor in the field of battle, shows how they dealt with each new challenge and each new hardship with renewed vigor, how they motivated the soldiers under their command under the most pressured conditions and how they destroyed their enemies. It encapsulates the soldier's quest for victory in extremely hostile conditions.

LOC Kargil is based on authentic research and gives you the events as they took place. A lot of care has been taken to see that the film is accurate even in its minutest detail. The background score and dialogs are gripping. The songs too, are pretty intense and have been extremely well written and composed. The lyrics motivate you, move you and also wrench your heart out.

LOC tries to tell the story of the soldiers and their families. It tells you about the sacrifice that a soldier makes for his country and the loss that his family suffers in the process. As the trailers said..."every bullet in a war finds its mark... into a woman's heart". A lot of soldiers died in the Kargil war and this movie makes an effort to show their sacrifice before we forget it. It is a must watch, especially for every Indian in the world.

The long hyped LOC Kargil movie turned out to be a load of crap, once again, much to the disappointment of eager viewers. When it comes to movies like these, the director should concentrate most on the battle scenes but those are the most flawed portions of the film. Basically ever single battle is the same where two groups of soldiers keep shooting each other until the Indians finally bring a Carl Gustav Rocket launcher and blow up the enemy position. The fight sequences are corny and poorly done. One wonders why they did'nt do that in the first place? Next, the Indian airforce is hardly ever seen. Next, there are long and pointless and crappy songs. Next, there is no story nor any subplots nor any satisfaction of seeing any objectives achieved by the soldiers. Watch it on TV or DVD but I would'nt waste my time in the theatre. Watch it for the witty dialog and some amusing scenes. If you want to watch an Indian war movie, go watch Lakshya instead.

When I was watching this movie, I was simultaneously being hit by two things

• the ordinariness of the 'production' quality. What is called 'production values' - lighting, sound, authenticity of effect, bullets hitting people, the environment. See 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Thin Red Line', 'Black Hawk Down', which have you shivering, and diving for cover as bullets fly. I know we don't have the kind of money that they have, but as a member of the audience I have become terribly spoilt by Hollywood, what more can I say. Remember that I WANTED to like the movie, so I am not being careless when I comment that it came across as too artificial and stage like. All the hill storming scenes for e.g., are all from the same camera angle and all have a hill bathed in a uniform light, as if from a lamppost, and just did not pull me into forgetting it was happening on screen. I was too cognisant that I was watching from an aloof medium, a seat facing a stage on what this was all happening perhaps.

• The story, the challenges our men faced, their pain, their courage, the difficulty of the situation, all of that.

It struck me that as a movie buff, I should try to somehow be able to differentiate the two even in the midst of 'enjoying' the movie. Differentiate all that is hitting me because of what happened out there from that which is hitting me only because of the way it has been treated / presented by JP. I found, limited as I was in my ability to do this, that despite my best wishes to conclude otherwise, I was being only 'moved' by the facts of the former, and not at all by the effort of the latter. If a young guy, who is about to get married to his childhood fiancée dies while bravely storming a hill currently occupied by miserable mother*&£$£s I would strangle personally if I had the guts, its going to move me in tears by just hearing about it. What I couldn't find was a camera angle, a single feature of the presentation that added to this impact. In fact, I will go so far as to claim that the artificiality of the treatment took away some of it.

That's about it - was very moved by what the story had to convey, and the research etc has no doubt been brilliant, but as a celluloid 'creation' , didn't find any 'value add' - as a documentary of what happened in itself its priceless, if only because film reaches out to a lot more people than any other media, including newspapers etc.