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It's a wonderful relief that directors of Hindi movies recently
are laying stress on the gravity of human relationships in
a love story that transcends any religion, caste, creed and
even borders. And notwithstanding the patriotic hyperboles
influenced by a guilt of nationalism, J P Dutta's Refugee
succeeds in making an impression and this despite carrying
out three stories together-Love between a Bangladeshi refugee
Nazneen (Kareena Kapoor) and 'Refugee' (yes that's the name
of Abhishek Bachchan), Love of Ashraf (Sunil Shetty) for Naaz
and the ubiquitous issue of Indo-Pak border.
Refugee, who abhors any relationship and does not like to
be associated with any nationality, is helping people to cross
the border, totally ignorant about the border laws. He considers
it as a service for which he gets paid. And in one such trip
of his across the wonderfully depicted Rann of Kutch he falls
in love with Naaz who has come all the way from Bangladesh
along with her family (Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Party) to
reach Pakistan. And thus starts the love story between both
of them in the backdrop of border tensions, which J P Dutta
has been able to knit with very well.
Naaz is now settled in Pakistan and Refugee marathons all
the way through the Rann of Kutch to meet his love. Meanwhile
Ashraf a Pakistani Ranger falls for the charms of Naaz adding
a bit of complexity to the story. And well the end of such
stories are very much predictable just that J P Dutta is able
to draw a point towards 'Insaniyat' by showing Naaz giving
birth to a child on the border who is touted as the representative
of Insaniyatsthan (A touch too much to digest though).
On performances, well if I were to loose all my words for
expression in an accident, I will save this one for Kareena
Kapoor's performance-Magnificent. The ease and panache with
which she exudes emotions is praiseworthy and that too for
a new comer it's absolutely stunning. May I call her a born
actress? Abhishek Bachchan also renders a good performance
with all the gravity in his eyes and an intense face reminiscing
the legend. But honestly we need to see him more. And I have
seldom seen a less than brilliant performance from Anupam
Kher in any role he performs. Both Kulbhushan Kharbanda as
the Bangladeshi refugee and father of Naaz and Sunil Shetty
as the Pakistani ranger falling for Naaz have done full justice
to their roles. Jackie Shroff, Shahdab Khan, Sudhesh Beri
all played a little cameo. The music by Annu Malik and Lyrics
of Javed Akhtar are memorable.
On the flip side the movie was touch too elongated. The three
hours 20 min. length could have been curtailed by at least
by 30 minutes but for a deft editing. The portrayal of the
serene yet perilous Rann of Kutch is a remarkable stint of
cinematography, which too is not consistent as at some places
it appears to be just ordinary. And well whatever might be
happening on the political front sometimes we feel that in
at least the movies which have a different principal theme
the decibels of nationalistic jingoism must be tempered a
bit. Remember '1947 A Love Story'???
Rating: ***1/2 (of which one full star goes to Kareena Kapoor)
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