The greatest war films made in the world make us ponder over the futility of it all. They also go on to depict individual heroism of the people involved, and also telling us that human spirit prevails beyond the violence and the atrocities committed by a set of people.
By that standard, it is difficult to gauge Major Ravi's latest Malayalam venture Kurukshetra, based on the Kargil War.
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First of all, we should praise Major Ravi's courage to take such a mammoth subject that needs huge logistic support and that too, on a negligible budget compared to any other industry. But, we feel disappointed as he treats the film as a typical political thriller projecting a verbose superstar; Mohanlal.
Here Mahadevan Nair (Mohanlal) is Colonel and not a Major (as in Keethichakra) and when he is reminded of this fact and to act responsibly by a superior after given the charge of chasing out the infiltrators from Kargil; his response is 'I am a soldier at heart before being a Major or a Colonel and I will act accordingly'. And, we involve in the clapping spree.
Before this the director sets the ball rolling; he shows the camaraderie between the soldiers on both sides. They barter cigarettes and liquor. The base camp resembles more like a picnic spot rather than an Army post, full of bonhomie.
Then, the sheep go missing; personnel patrolling the area are shot dead. We get the impact of the first sniper. Now, it is a full blown war, and our man is in-charge.
The narrative does not digress much from the reality of the Kargil War. The problem is that everything happening is hyperbolic, as if there was fear that anything subdued would not be commercially viable.
The other problem is that the director tries to make a concerted effort to make his story holistic by including the back stories of few of the men (except for Madhavan's). So, there are sentiments, emotions, low comedy (thanks to the likes of Suraj Venjaramoodu and Cochin Haneefa), even whiff of love and marital discord. These things slacken the pace of the narrative, which could have been avoided.
The hero is made to be a superhuman; who can single-handedly perform miraculous deeds, be it verbal or physical. Whether it is giving a piece his mind to corrupt bureaucrat about the poor quality of imported coffins or the footwear given to soldiers guarding the Siachen glacier, our man does it all. But, the unarmed one on one battle with his enemy in the climax takes the cake for its innate absurdity.
Mohanlal is sincerity personified as far as histrionic capabilities go. One just wishes that his character was handled a bit more realistically.
Technically, Kurukshetra is a few notches above the fare dished out these days. Loganathan's camerawork captures the hostile region of Kargil brilliantly. The film would have been different if Major Ravi had a script that complemented the technical brilliance.
Unfortunately, Kurukshetra is loud and jingoistic.
Rediff Rating: 
