Pukar (Dangerous Love - Dangerous Mission)

 

Pukar, scheduled to release this Friday(2/4/00), is generating enormous attention in both audiences and trade circles.

For one, it will be Madhuri Dixit-Nene's first release after she officially declared her state of wedded bliss. And everyone is waiting with bated breath to see if she will finally break the glass ceiling and be accepted by her fans. As a married heroine!

Then, there is Anil Kapoor. Whose performance in the movie is being lauded by all those who have seen it.

Director Rajkumar Santoshi is as known for his highly-delayed films as for the warmth with which they are received at the box office. While producer Boney Kapoor is synonymous for the extravagant lavishness of his films. True to form, he has had the song Que sera sera recorded thrice before it met with his standards of perfection. While Santoshi, as late as the last week of January, flew down with some of his artistes to Hyderabad where Anil is shooting for the next Kapoor production, Humara Dil Aapke Paas Hain. And actually shot an entire scene that is now incorporated in the pre-climax.

Finally, there is the money. Boney Kapoor has spent slightly over Rs 240 million on Pukar, which has been sold at an expensive Rs 22.5 million per major territory.

For for the film itself, we have not seen it yet, but let us quote from the glossy booklet in front of us: Pukar is a magnificent blend of nailbiting action, dramatic romance and chilling espionage. It recounts the story of the highest form of patriotism and the worst type of treason. Mounted on an extravagant scale, Pukar explores the awesome expanse of Alaska for the first time in Indian cinema. A story of a dangerous mission and an even more dangerous love. Pukar is an unforgettable film that will live in your heart forever.

 

Pukar is a potential espionage thriller...

V Gangadhar

As long as India and Pakistan keep snarling at each other, we will have films like Pukar. Recent releases like J P Dutta's Border resurrected an episode from the 1971 war. Sarfarosh brought the ISI inside our air-conditioned cinema halls. Pukar continues in the same vein.

Boney Kapoor's latest home production deals with a 'dangerous love' and a 'dangerous mission' according to the glossy brochure distributed during the preview. Excessive, obsessive love can kill or lead to betrayal of the nation. When Anjali (Madhuri Dixit) steals a secret code from Major Jai's (Anil Kapoor) office and hands it over to a stranger to get even with him for ignoring her love, she had no idea the number indicates the location of dreaded terrorist Abrush (Danny), held captive by the Indian army authorities.

Out of prison, Abrush and his henchmen go on a killing spree and decide to bomb the massive town hall on Independence Day. We can't let all that happen in our films, can we? The handsome Major, who has been court-martialled and deprived of his rank, single-handedly saves the nation, with a bit of help from Anjali who, at the crucial hour, clings from the pendulum of the town clock which holds the mechanism for the bomb explosion.

Director Rajkumar Santoshi is credited with the 'story,' which could have been the work of any five-year-old. Not satisfied with murder and mayhem, he introduces a love triangle (shades of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai), where Anjali loves Raj, Raj loves Pooja (Namrata Shirodkar) and Pooja loves herself and a modelling career. But with Pooja conveniently packed off to Australia (I'm sure it was not with the intention of inspiring our cricketers) for more fashion shows, Jai and Anjali are free to battle the baddies who want nothing more than Kashmir.

Which, of course, leads to a lot of jingoism. Santoshi, ever since he handled the multistarrer China-Gate, has become partial to big movies, huge casts and rousing action. Here, though, bigness is substituted for loudness. Guns, bombs, missiles, rockets... they explode all the time. The army authorities seem to believe noise can crack the mystery of the missing code which is finally solved when the culprit confesses to Jai's superior officer.

Pukar had the potential to become an espionage thriller, but then our film-makers can seldom be bothered with a new approach. So it goes on and on for 18 reels on levels that are quite predictable. The most dreaded terrorist in the region, and his henchmen, and the local traitors, are brought down by a single officer of the Indian Army and a girl who had been portrayed as being capable of doing nothing more than cracking inane jokes or dancing provocatively in night clubs.

The first half of the film, despite the cliched romantic situations, moves fairly quickly. The cinematography by Baba Azmi, Ashok Mehta and Santosh Sivan is excellent, particularly in the song sequences. A R Rahman's tunes are hummable and the songs are picturised well, particularly Que sera sera, Kabhi kisi se pyar na karna and Phir chalne wale rukthe hain kahan. The editing, however, is a bit jerky, particularly in the action scenes.

The film falls to pieces in the second half. The action scenes are highly contrived. Abrush tries to project a larger-than-life presence by constantly rolling his huge eyes and grunting with vigour. And Santoshi's handling of the military scenes is rather amateurish. Does the army strip a court-martialled officer even of his clothes? And then the officer, who has been accused of high treason, is guarded so loosely that he can get out of jail anytime he wants to!

With such a screenplay, the cast has a tough time. Anil Kapoor is more comfortable in the light romantic scenes while Madhuri Dixit, who is wooden most of the time, remains oblivious of the seriousness of her actions. It is a pity that the supporting cast -- Farida Jalal, Girish Karnad and Rohini Hattangadi -- have so little to do. But one must raise a special cheer for Om Puri. He is absolutely top class in a small, but well-etched, role.

Watching Pukar makes one hope and pray that India and Pakistan mend their differences as quickly as possible. Only then can we escape such films.

 

Pukar is a romantic thriller with a patriotic background, mounted on a lavish scale. Director Rajkumar Santoshi has a reputation for thinking big—his last one, China Gate, was a box-office disaster. Pukar tries to cash in on the Kargil aftermath and the ISI's determined bid to promote terrorism in India and defame our government.
Santoshi adopts a two-track approach—romance and action—to tell the story of Major Jai (Anil Kapoor) who loves Pooja (Namrata Shirodkar) while his childhood friend Anjali (Madhuri Dixit) loves him. Within this love triangle, Santoshi weaves a tale of espionage, moles in defence forces and corrupt politicians in the payroll of subversives.
A bald Danny plays the mercenary Abrush, who plots a violent disruption of Independence Day celebrations by blasting the Town Hall. Anjali, who is upset at Jai falling for Pooja, gets trapped into a plan to secure the release of the jailed Abrush. In a momentary fit of anger, she hands over the crucial code of the place where the dreaded terrorist is kept under tight security.
Jai becomes the obvious suspect when Abrush is rescued in a terrorist ambush. He is courtmartialled and humiliated. While Pooja's parents will have nothing to do with a "traitor", a repentent Anjali is unable to speak out the truth. Jai will, of course, learn the truth and the people behind the conspiracy. Then it is a race against time, as our hero tries to save the people, single-handedly in true Bollywood style.
The first half of the film is definitely its strength. Santoshi whets the audience appetite right from the scene where Madhuri enters the screen, tapping her feet to Prabhudeva's quick movements in Que sera sera. Anil and Madhuri have always shared a screen chemistry ever since their Tezaab days. Here too their chemistry and body language is pleasing to watch. Madhuri's face at times reveals the fact that she's aging but there is no denying she still has a charm. The song shot in the sub-zero snowscape of Alaska is quite a visual treat. But Anil overshadows Madhuri once the narrative gets serious. Anil Kapoor is competent, proving he is still one of the finest actors we have. He scores equally as a romantic hero and as a sincere army officer who gets trapped in high-level intrigue. The enrgetic Kapoor thoroughly enjoys the stunts that ace Tinnu Verma devises for him. The action scenes and pyrotechnics bear Verma's stamp. The copter chase of Madhuri and Anil in the thick forest could well match a James Bond climax.
Danny as Abrush, the terrorist on a mission of destruction, tends to overact. Om Puri does a fine job in his small role. Govind Namdeo renders a touch of humour to his role of a greedy politician, along with Anjan Srivastav as his sidekick. But competent performers like Girish Karnad, Farida Jalal and Rohini Hattangadi are wasted. Namrata Shirodkar's character looks more like a guest appearance. Pukar also has a rare screen appearance by Lata Mangeshkar.
A R Rahman's musical score matches the mood of the movie. Santoshi devotes most of second half to action, diluting the cinematic impact of the earlier half. That's where the film stumbles. For a theme with military backdrop, despite the acknowledged Defence Ministry cooperation, Pukar tends to exaggerate. Whether it is the easy escape of the jailed Major Jai or the ridiculous open court martial in which even the shirt of the Major is stripped along with the medallions and belt, expose lack of attention to details.
Whether Pukar's box-office collections justify producer Boney Kapoor's faith in pulp patriotism remains to be seen. Till now, all the post-Kargil films on terrorism barring Sarfarosh have fared poorly. .