To start with, the search for an 'epic' war movie is still on. While Border invoked a feeling of pride amongst kids and a lot of ethnocentric Indians. I still enjoy watching that movie. It's good even after all these years. However, those who have watched movies such as Saving Private Ryan and Full Metal Jacket, etc., we can safely opine that we have a long way to go to rub shoulders with Hollywood standards of storytelling. There's nothing wrong with itsy-bitsy songs in between because hey, that's how unnecessary music is interjected rudely from a commercial point of view. The average Indian movie buff is immune to this and we don't mind zoning out for the duration of the song. The trailer is just a ruse. The movie lacks a lot of punch and over the edge action. It even doesn't deliver the emotional content that we usually love. There is no retribution of martyred soldiers either.
After having watched Border, LOC and now Paltan, the template of every JP Dutta goes something like this:
1) A wheezing, blood-coughing and salivating hero who makes the ultimate sacrifice with an explosive (Maa Shakti Maa anyone?)
2) You'll see at least one actress meeting her fiancé in the field. Add Sugarcane, flowers, sarso fields to the mix. Voila. Brimming with Desi vibes. The rest of the fauji wives are all desi girls. Nothing wrong with that portrayal but a bit of diversity helps.
3) There will be a situation in which Jackie Shroff has to wait for an approval and watch his 'Paltan' get decimated. Reminds me of the MIG scene in the movie, Border.
4) An Indian fauji (won't give away spoilers) detonates five grenades in a bunker to take down the enemy with him, the body of the slain Indian solider still does not disintegrate. Defying physics because why not?
5) Strong foreshadowing scenes before a soldier's death.
The opening scene after the skirmish and battle will really set you off. We all deal with grief differently. Some cry, some stay shocked and speechless until it sinks in. However, it's the first time I have seen synchronized bawling at 5am in the morning when the postman delivers telegrams to the families of the martyred soldiers of the 1962 battle. How can you expect all family members to be awake in the morning? And whatever happened to people experiencing shock and trauma? But no - incessant forced crying and yelling will make the audience glued to their seats. No sir!
To be fair, the trailer seemed very promising despite lacking a solid cast. It is the kind of content that we dig: a patriotic and thumping movie that seemed to have struck a chord with everyone. Although Border was fraught with plot holes and some awkward scenes (The way Jackie Shroff gives a thumbs-up to Sunny Deol despite being 2000 feet in the air had transcended into meme content once we snapped out of our childhood hangover dose of patriotism).
In this review, I'll try to be as objective as possible without spilling spoilers along the way. Even if you do come across any spoilers in any other reviews, there is nothing to lose.
This movie could have been so much better. After all, the recent Doklam stand-off was fresh in our minds and if anyone did read up on the battles, we know that Indians emerged victorious against Chinese incursions. Nathula was one of the battles in which our brave soldiers paid the price in blood to save Sikkim from getting annexed. What really has flummoxed me is the sheer lack of loose plot. JP Dutta has weaved the plot around true battle stories. Screenplay is really awful and the acting is not out of the ordinary either. There is one particular dialogue in the movie that invokes a feeling of awkwardness when Gurprit Singh and his beau are having some implied and pun-intended dirty talking where jaggery is used as a metaphor by the actress as ahem ahem. Stay classy, JP Dutta! It seemed crass and funny.
While Indian cinema and filmmaking is certainly take the right strides (Anurag Kashyap is a welcome change), this is the final nail on the coffin for JP Dutta to produce another war movie. If you thought LoC was not up to the mark, Paltan is bereft of any superlative at all. There is no 'wow' moment in the movie ever. Vapid is the word.
On that note, I wish I wouldn't have had to write this negative review because a part of me still wanted this movie to do exceedingly well. But it has failed to deliver. With the kind of storytelling we have seen in few movies and a particular Indian show (Go figure!), I'm positive that our version of an epic war movie can certainly take-off in the future. But for now, we all wait with baited breath for that pivotal moment!
After having watched Border, LOC and now Paltan, the template of every JP Dutta goes something like this:
1) A wheezing, blood-coughing and salivating hero who makes the ultimate sacrifice with an explosive (Maa Shakti Maa anyone?)
2) You'll see at least one actress meeting her fiancé in the field. Add Sugarcane, flowers, sarso fields to the mix. Voila. Brimming with Desi vibes. The rest of the fauji wives are all desi girls. Nothing wrong with that portrayal but a bit of diversity helps.
3) There will be a situation in which Jackie Shroff has to wait for an approval and watch his 'Paltan' get decimated. Reminds me of the MIG scene in the movie, Border.
4) An Indian fauji (won't give away spoilers) detonates five grenades in a bunker to take down the enemy with him, the body of the slain Indian solider still does not disintegrate. Defying physics because why not?
5) Strong foreshadowing scenes before a soldier's death.
The opening scene after the skirmish and battle will really set you off. We all deal with grief differently. Some cry, some stay shocked and speechless until it sinks in. However, it's the first time I have seen synchronized bawling at 5am in the morning when the postman delivers telegrams to the families of the martyred soldiers of the 1962 battle. How can you expect all family members to be awake in the morning? And whatever happened to people experiencing shock and trauma? But no - incessant forced crying and yelling will make the audience glued to their seats. No sir!
To be fair, the trailer seemed very promising despite lacking a solid cast. It is the kind of content that we dig: a patriotic and thumping movie that seemed to have struck a chord with everyone. Although Border was fraught with plot holes and some awkward scenes (The way Jackie Shroff gives a thumbs-up to Sunny Deol despite being 2000 feet in the air had transcended into meme content once we snapped out of our childhood hangover dose of patriotism).
In this review, I'll try to be as objective as possible without spilling spoilers along the way. Even if you do come across any spoilers in any other reviews, there is nothing to lose.
This movie could have been so much better. After all, the recent Doklam stand-off was fresh in our minds and if anyone did read up on the battles, we know that Indians emerged victorious against Chinese incursions. Nathula was one of the battles in which our brave soldiers paid the price in blood to save Sikkim from getting annexed. What really has flummoxed me is the sheer lack of loose plot. JP Dutta has weaved the plot around true battle stories. Screenplay is really awful and the acting is not out of the ordinary either. There is one particular dialogue in the movie that invokes a feeling of awkwardness when Gurprit Singh and his beau are having some implied and pun-intended dirty talking where jaggery is used as a metaphor by the actress as ahem ahem. Stay classy, JP Dutta! It seemed crass and funny.
While Indian cinema and filmmaking is certainly take the right strides (Anurag Kashyap is a welcome change), this is the final nail on the coffin for JP Dutta to produce another war movie. If you thought LoC was not up to the mark, Paltan is bereft of any superlative at all. There is no 'wow' moment in the movie ever. Vapid is the word.
On that note, I wish I wouldn't have had to write this negative review because a part of me still wanted this movie to do exceedingly well. But it has failed to deliver. With the kind of storytelling we have seen in few movies and a particular Indian show (Go figure!), I'm positive that our version of an epic war movie can certainly take-off in the future. But for now, we all wait with baited breath for that pivotal moment!