Title: 120 Bahadur
Director: Razneesh ‘Razy’ Ghai
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Raashii Khanna, Sparsh Walia, Ajinkya Ramesh Deo, Eijaz Khan, Vivan Bhathena and others
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 2.5 stars
A film that has patriotism written on it in bold letters has mostly worked at the box office. Films like Border, Lakshya stand as a testimony to the same. In such a scenario, will 1 film like 120 Bahadur be able to hit the bull’s eye at the box-office, let's find out.
The film starts with a historic vintage video in addition to a voiceover of the legendary Amitabh Bachchan who guides us through the situation of 1962. It was the time when battle lines were drawn between India and China and the latter’s troops began marching towards Ladakh. The razor-sharp Major Shaitan Singh Bhati (Farhan Akhtar) of 13th Battalion of Kumaon Regiment, clearly understands that if the Chinese gain control of Chushul, rest of Ladakh along with Jammu and Kashmir would be a cakewalk for them. Things become extremely challenging when he realises that he has merely 120 soldiers to put up a fight against 3000 plus Chinese soldiers.
Does Major Shaitan Singh Bhati become successful in tackling and battling the mighty Chinese Army is what forms the rest of the film.
120 Bahadur Review: Actors' Performance
Even though it's supposed to be an out and out Farhan Akhtar’s film, he somehow underplays his part and paves the way for debutant Sparsh Walia to shine with comparatively more screen time. Even though Farhan does not bring anything new to the table that we have not seen before… it won't be even right to say that he disappoints. Since he has set his own bar high with stellar performances in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and others, his performance in 120 Bahadur looks (comparatively) just above average. Raashii Khanna, Eijaz Khan, Ajinkya Ramesh Deo and Vivan Bhatena impress with their allotted screen time. Rest of the actors (including the foreign actors) help in ‘marching’ the story ahead.
While the film’s director Razneesh 'Razy' Ghai and his team deserves a pat on their back for having done extensive research on the film, the same cannot be said of Razy's direction. While his direction looks like a sincere attempt to do justice to the film’s narrative, there are places where the film is just let loose… simply off the hook. A few places see the film looking stuck in a loop!
The film’s screenplay (Rajiv G Goswami) is impressive, but the dialogues (Sumit Arora) are just about average and fails to invoke the patriotism fervour amongst the audience. A special mention to the film’s action (Marek Svitek), which manages to hold your undivided attention.
The film’s cinematography (Tetsuo Nagata) is spectacular. Barring a few scenes (mostly in the first half), the film’s editing is good. Just like the dialogues, even the music and songs (Amit Trivedi, Salim Sulaiman & Amjad Nadeem Aamir) fail to light up patriotism and the ‘josh’ and ‘junoon’ that is required of a film of this nature and stature.
Tracks like ‘Yaad Aate Hain' and 'Main Hoon Woh Dharti Maa' seem like an amateur attempt to recreate the magic of cult and evergreen patriotic tracks like ‘Sandese Aate Hain’ and others... The film’s background music (Satish Raghunathan) is taut and syncs with the narrative.
120 Bahadur Review: FPJ Verdict
Even though it's a Farhan Akhtar’s film, it does not come as his film in totality, which may leave his die-hard fans a bit disappointed. At the box office, the film has to rely on word of mouth publicity, in addition to fuelled patriotic sentiments.
