Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran

We have people blaming #Bollywood movies for content all year long and when a good film releases there's no one to watch it. Intentionally watched #Parmanu with 50% occupancy and what a film it is!! Such stories need to be told, these are the stories which children need to know.

And not movies on Sanjay Dutt, not movies on Dawood, Haseena Parkar, etc. #Parmanu invokes patriotism in you and that's what should be remembered. Anyway will have people bashing the upcoming Race 3 and blaming the audience for taking it to 500cr.

Whereas a Parmanu silently arrives and leaves without anyone noticing. Hope it gets what it deserves. An audience!!

It always feels great when something apart from a India-Pak match unites, we the people of India, where we clap together on a national achievement, for national hero(es). Well, this time it was a recreation of a moment of national pride that incited this act. Abhishek Sharma's 'Parmanu- the story of Pokharan' (PTSP) is a true ode to the visionaries who envisioned and executed the intricate yet successful nuclear tests of 1998 which catapulted India to a full-fledged nuclear state.

1. *The plot* - Going by the theme, it could have easily been a documentary. However, considering sensitivity of information and facts, it would not have been legal to detail out everything with 100% authenticity. There goes kudos to the writers who spunned the well needed soul of the programme in a fictional story and characters. This saved the film from becoming dull/ documentaristic! However, regular showcasing of actual clippings from DD and government archives ensured realism. Watching Vajpayee ji's real inspiring speeches on & off was definitely heart-warming! :) 2. *Cast* - A special mention of John Abraham who risked money to make a movie on this otherwise on-paper dry topic. Apart from being a courageous producer of this film, he carried it well on his shoulders as main lead. He was ably supported by talented actors like Boman Irani, Vikas Kumar and Yogendra Tiku. Diana Penty and Anuja Sathe did justice to their limited characters. Overall, all characters looked authentic in their body language and were aplty cast. 3. The on screen authenticity of events and characters can be attributed to *immaculate screenplay and flawless cinematography*. 4. Thankfully, no song disrupts the seriousness or tone of the film. *Background score* is good. 5. The film is *flawed* only to the extent of some over-styling of lead actors and low story pace initially. However, Movie picks up pace gradually and gets into full on acceleration esp. in 2nd half. One more miss out was APJ's character. Perhaps, absence of exact mappings was intentional.

All in all, PTSP does manage give a glimpse of unmatchable hard work and challenges that went away in enacting this historical achievement. In an era where India was a vulnerable state diplomatically bullied and regularly monitored (read: threatened) by Uncle Sam, this achievement was much much bigger than current era's surgical strike. Each Indian deserves to know, see and feel proud to watch this story unfold. _It was disappointing to find hardly 30% occupancy at multiplex._

For me, it is definitely a *9/10* flick. Please go *watch in theatres* to help more people put money on similar stories.

Note: Do watch ending credentials as they showcase real pictures of/ before/ after explosion along with fact bits.

Movie misses on mnay science fronts ... Such as people handle open nuclear core without radiation suit... overall not very smart movie

We would expect a movie inspired with true events ought to keep you engaged throughout.

Alas , it may not be in case of Pokharan.. an event which brought the country to the world map of military power and paved its way to have a stronger role in world politics, the movie might not have been able to build a strong backdrop story line .. a not so strong screenplay, at times lame dialogues and script drags and tries to instill patriotism.. I guess movie was an attempt to stardom, from the factory of recently created patriotism formulae with humor dialogues nd doesn't help, atleast myself.

Again, I still feel we had a great cast nd have watched some great work from JAs production like Madras Cafe.. Diane Pentys role could have been stronger than just making her walk in a uniform ..

I will say I am very amused by the reviews of the movie. People I feel got swept away by the plot more than the movie, which is my point exactly in writing this review.

Pokhran was a great event to make a movie on. It showed how India became a nuclear power in arms and stood elite among the few nuclear powers. What the movie doesn't do is do justice with the horrible screen play. The plot established itself so haphazardly with Krishna's character, his motivation & his dream. Why no else but himself couldnt have done it nobody knows.

The overacting, to plot holes & the most absurd and horrendouz background score. Leave it to bollywood to push the limits of bad cinema.

After Madras cafe, which was brilliant in its own way, this was such a letdown.

My only positive take away is that Indians got to know about this historical event.