Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey

People r complaining about the length of the movie.....movie being bore.....what they expected from this movie???? a 90 minutes fast paced brainless comedy.....as far as i m concerned i expected a engaging,gripping depiction of a true story about a incident in history of independence of India which is not very well known to most of the public....and i was not disappointed.... In fact movies of this genre are meant to be made in this way....they take there time to narrate various incidents.Various Hollywood movies like Schindlers List, The pianist etc were the movies of same genre telling the true stories from the history and there running time was more than KHJJS and they are regarded as all time masterpieces in west but unfortunately the same type of effort in our country will be stated as lame and boring. This a must watch movie for all the cine goers who prefer meaningful,informative and gripping cinema..... 8.5/10

Continuing with his craft of making movies on the literary works of renowned writers, Ashutosh returns to the Historical genre with his "KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SE" which surprisingly gets released without any great publicity in the media.

As a Historical movie on a lesser known, Independence movement of Chittagong witnessed in 1930. Looking at the movie from this angle, it is indeed a highly authentic depiction of the historical event of 1930 made with utmost honesty and sincerity. The story is about a team of few young Freedom Fighters allowing the help of more than 50 teenager boys in their violent freedom movement. Ashutosh has no doubt taken care of every little detail of that time and the people involved in it with a superb vision of his own. And along with that, we should be highly thankful to him, to enlighten us all about this hidden chapter of our Indian Independence movement which was not known to most of its viewers living in the Northern Region.

As an artistic project, the film is perfect with great art direction and cinematography, bringing the period of 1930 alive on the screen with near perfection. But I really wish the same perfection had been there in its writing department too which is too slow paced, lengthy and even uninteresting at regular intervals. The costume designing also is just limited to white kurtas being worn by almost everyone in the team and doesn't come up with a great show as required. The film starts at a very lazy note and never picks up in its entire first half, due to which the viewer loses his every hope to see anything great or exceptional from the director with a great line-up in the past. Post intermission too, though the narration picks up with all the action sequences unfolding on the screen, but still its execution is certainly not anything close to Ashutosh's own set standards in his previous films.

The most annoying part of the movie is the portrayal of all the British Officials, who quite shockingly act and look like characters of some school or university stage play. Even the casting of all the actors posing as Britishers is way below the mark and overlooked.

Along with this, the other biggest failure of the film is that it is not able to generate the much needed patriotic feeling in the viewer, which should be a must in a film made on a real-life independence movement. Honestly, the only time I felt patriotic with blood running faster in my veins was when I saw the real pictures of the actual teenager freedom fighters lying dead on the ground (shown in the end credits).

Reviewing KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SE on the basis of a movie experience alone is a hurting job as the film has got nothing to offer as far as entertainment is concerned to the audience. In clear words, for most of the viewers it may be quite painful to watch it right till the end.

Putting it differently, actually What a common viewer wishes to feel when he is going to watch a film made on a historical event of Indian Independence? He undoubtedly wants to feel the action, smell the gun powder and would like to give a standing ovation clapping loud at the end of the movie feeling proud to be a citizen of the current world power, India. That was the reason which converted both GADAR & LAGAAN into such big hits. Or on the other side, a film made on the Indian patriotic movement should be so sensitive and emotional that it should make every viewer in the theater go numb with wet eyes in the end as in SHAHEED & GARAM HAWA. Unfortunately, KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SE can neither be called as a powerful uplifting movie nor as an emotional enriching experience.

Musically its again a weak soundtrack chosen by the director for his film which ideally should have been a song less movie as per the requirement of its theme. The Background music too is not so engrossing which can take a particular sequence to a different level. Amusingly the "Vande Matram" song running with the end credits made me remember the decades old song from ANANDMATH 1952)which still remains the most inspiring melody composed with the patriotic words of VANDE MATRAM.

Performance wise, KHJJS has some appreciable performances coming from its entire supporting cast other than the lead pair. The whole supporting team of Abhishek along with all the young teenager actors, surely deserves praises for their effortless acts in the film. However I couldn't applaud the casting choices made by Ashutosh in his current project for his lead pair, since both Abhishek and Deepika were not looking great in their out of the routine roles. With quite few scenes in the movie, Deepika is not able to take away the glamour off her face. Still I found her much better than all her previous movies since her debut film. On the other hand, there is a vast difference in the charactersation of Abhishek in pre and post interval of the movie. And for this the blame should actually go to his director.

So as a conclusion, KHJJS cannot be rated as one of the best works of anyone in its entire team including the actors, writers and the director. However, only the ART DIRECTOR can proudly use this movie in his repertoire at the top and it can also be applauded as a pure ORIGINAL in the present Hindi Films scenerio dealing with Inspirations from the West.

Ending on an entertaining note, I still rate the use of "DOGS AND INDIANS NOT ALLOWED" by Manmohan Desai in his Amitabh Bachchan starrer MARD as the best way of addressing the issue on the wide screen.

Once again Ashutosh brings us in a era of his Dream..throughout the movie you can relate yourself with the heart touching sounds of vande-mataram. Not only for its patriotism and not just for your love for your country...there are a lot more reasons to watch this notable milestone..First of all its not always easy to handle a true historic event in such balanced manner...but Ashutosh did it great again...no need to worry that movie is based on Bengali...as Ashu sir knows that cinema is a media to reach out everyone...only a few accent gives it touch of Bangla...I don't no why people criticize Abhishek again and again but he is one of the unique actors in industry...if Ashu Sir, Mani sir and all big names in industry have trust in Him..what the hell this critics writing so much against him...Heads of to Abhishek for such excellent acting...Deepika is also making justice with the Role...and one of the finest acting by others..including Sikander, Vishakha and all the teenagers...That's all from my side go and watch this...a must watch...

This movie is definitely an eye opener for those who think that Bollywood is the place of brainless comedies , over hyped romances & sensationalized media exposure , because this movie opens our eyes to a struggle never heard before.

I myself have heard about Surya Sen's freedom struggle , only in class VIIIth standard , when I decided to go deep into it . Through Internet , I heard about this struggle being converted into a great film , "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey." It's another masterpiece of Ashutosh sir , but sadly in India , we don't have creativity & the readiness to accept change & like , Swades , a great masterpiece of India , is ignored by all .

What is the similarity between "The King's Speech" & this movie ? Both were based on historical events. While the former was based on the battle of King George VIth with his speech problem , the latter was based on the Great Chittagong Armory Raid in 1930 , but both the films had different fates.

While King ruled the Oscars , Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey failed to ring the cash registers at the box office. But leaving the negativities of Bollywood , a supreme hats off to Ashutosh sir !!

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is an honest and sincere effort by Ashutosh Gowarikar put together with a lot of hardwork. Now, a lot of the times, such efforts may not work out on the screen but in the case of this movie, it results in a great piece of cinema.

Before going to the movie, I was discussing about the young deaths which had occurred during India's freedom struggle. Some one like Bhagat Singh was only 23. The film starts with youngsters playing football and the British taking over their play ground. All through the first half, a lot of screen time is dedicated to these youngsters.

It is important to understand the Ashutosh Gowarikar style of film making here. He is a director who likes to make the audiences feel his films and he does it by etching out a screenplay which has a pace of it's own. A lot of people find it slow but if it was faster, you wouldn't get the time to not only realise, but to absorb and understand the dreams and aspirations of the people on screen.

The story of the Chittagong uprising is one of the less popular epsiodes of the Indian freedom struggle So it is great that Gowarikar has brought this story into the mainstream. Through the movie, you feel regarding and remember not only the freedom fighters of the Chittagong uprising but all the unnamed people who took it upon themselves to fight to free India. A son tells his father that they will not sell imported clothes any more, a mother gives his son Rs. 100 to contribnute to the freedom struggle and it is about the sacrifices (small or large) of the common man who wants India free. The teenagers who fought in the Chittagong uprising were as common as they come. You see scene after scene of these young freedom fighters. It is really a homage to the many, many Indians who wanted India free and contributed towards that end.

When the film ends, photographs of the people who fought in the Chittagong uprising are shown side by side with that of the actors who depicted them. A lot of them are very similar in not just the fact that they wore spectacles but even in the hairstyles. It is testament to the amount of detail which has gone into making this film. That detail is scene every where in the film whether it be in the way the characters dress, the sets or the sceneries. In the second half landscapes of Bengal are recreated when the freedom fighters are on the run and it is really very well done. 8/10.