Jinxed jingoism

Priyanka Bhattacharya

Here's yet another patriotic films for all you deshbhakts out there.

With a name picked out of the Indian National Anthem, the film raises a fair bit of curiosity. Especially as it is also the comeback film of veterans like Shatrughan Sinha and Jaya Pradha. Three hours later, all you are left with is a pounding headache.

Director Osho Raja [Return Of The Jewel Thief] had hoped to capitalise on the patriotic wave across the country. It is rumoured that he got his script okayed by the Indian army itself. What went wrong is anybody's guess.

The script is loose --- too many songs and subplots, most of which are quite unnecessary. The editing is loose and the scenes drag.

Chintu aka Chaitanya Suryavanshi [Vikram Aditya] is the young upright son of Home Minister Mahendra Suryavanshi [Shatrughan Sinha], and his wife Rukmini [Jaya Prada]. Completing this happy picture is Sapna [Rinku Ghosh], Chintu's girlfriend.

All is not hunky dory as our country is plagued by cross-border terrorism. Terror strikes when a bus carrying school children is hijacked by terrorists. The hostages include the minister's wife and son who are now at the mercy of the notorious Shabeer Khan [Chandrachur Singh].

Now the morally upright minister is caught between desh prem and his family. The story builds in this vein till the final confrontation between the terrorists and the armed forces.

In true filmi style, the final battle is won by super commando [Puru Rajkumar] and the Minister himself. Wonder what the rest of the police force was for?

In spite of being a patriotic film, none of the performances is noteworthy. Vikram Aditya, and Rinku Ghosh are strictly mediocre. Chandrachur Singh shows promise initially but fades quickly. Sad that the likes of Shatrughan Sinha and Jaya Prada are reduced to spouting jingoistic dialogues and unwanted melodrama.

Tom Alter as Jalaluddin Ghanznavi and Puru Rajkumar as Major Abdul Hamid have turned in fine performances.

The film also stars Asha Saini, Shadaab Khan, Satish Shah, Rakesh Bedi, Laxmikant Berde, Pramod Moutho, Vidya Sinha and Farha.

The strictly average music crops up at the most unwanted times. The story is cliched and more jingoistic than patriotic.

It might have made better sense if Raja had stuck to one consistent storyline instead of introducing so many subplots.