Synopsis: Jai (Warsi) and Suhail (Abraham) are Indian journalists in Afghanistan in quest of the elusive Taliban. Unfortunately for them, Talibs are hard to find, and those that are found are promptly and brutally lynched by Afghans or sold to Americans. Jessica (Arsenio) is a Reuters journalist on the same quest who gets thrown together with them. Their driver/guide Khyber (Humghum) helps them in the quest.
The group gets kidnapped by a vicious-looking Talib (Shahid) who's trying to reach the Pakistan border. And this starts off a road trip which provides insights into the Afghan conflict for all of them and us.
On this road trip, they get caught in bushkazi, a sufi trance, kebabs, women's rights and lots of other situations.
Review: On the whole, a very brave and bold attempt by a traditional bollywood production house. Definitely deserves a watch if only for that reason. The cinematography is breathtaking, the Afghan people and actors are wonderfully and heartbreakingly natural. The comedic dialogue and situations keep the movie from getting depressing. The movie tries to tread a politically correct yet sensitive line and provides a sympathetic and humorous portrayal of the ruthless Afghan chessboard from an Indian perspective.
On the cons side, Linda Arsenio is a seriously bad actress. What the heck, she's good looking and probably the only gori they found who was ready to film in Afghanistan! The editing could have been a lot more crisp for a road film: the parts between the 'events' drag a bit. Also, I wished there was some more focus on the lives of the Afghan people.
Westerners also might not like the 9/11 footage used to introduce the movie. Personally, I think it works fine.
However, all these are minor complaints, and should not stop anyone from giving this movie a fair chance.
The group gets kidnapped by a vicious-looking Talib (Shahid) who's trying to reach the Pakistan border. And this starts off a road trip which provides insights into the Afghan conflict for all of them and us.
On this road trip, they get caught in bushkazi, a sufi trance, kebabs, women's rights and lots of other situations.
Review: On the whole, a very brave and bold attempt by a traditional bollywood production house. Definitely deserves a watch if only for that reason. The cinematography is breathtaking, the Afghan people and actors are wonderfully and heartbreakingly natural. The comedic dialogue and situations keep the movie from getting depressing. The movie tries to tread a politically correct yet sensitive line and provides a sympathetic and humorous portrayal of the ruthless Afghan chessboard from an Indian perspective.
On the cons side, Linda Arsenio is a seriously bad actress. What the heck, she's good looking and probably the only gori they found who was ready to film in Afghanistan! The editing could have been a lot more crisp for a road film: the parts between the 'events' drag a bit. Also, I wished there was some more focus on the lives of the Afghan people.
Westerners also might not like the 9/11 footage used to introduce the movie. Personally, I think it works fine.
However, all these are minor complaints, and should not stop anyone from giving this movie a fair chance.