Kalam

If you are going to watch the film because it is from director Vinayan who gave us films like ‘Yen Mana Vaanil’ and ‘Kashi’ and because it stars Prabhu, then you are in for a disappointment. Soon, you realize that the film is a dubbed version of a Malayalam film.

The story happens during the Kargil war. Lieutenant Sarath Chandran (Prabhu) and his team sneek into Pakistan to rescue the villagers who were taken hostage by the Pakistani Army. But, the whole team is caught by the Pakistani Army due to sabotage and betrayal on the part of a high-ranking Indian Army Officer. Pakistani Army Commander Jaffer Khan arrests them. The whole team sacrifices their lives to protect India from a Nuclear attack. Meanwhile, Captain Gopi (Dileep) managed to escape to India with the daughter of Jaffer Khan, Zareena (Laila) who falls in love with him.

The first half of the film proceeds like a documentary- pretty boring. Such Army based films ought to be serious, but this film doesn’t have it. The team attempts to infiltrate Pakistan as if they are going for a picnic. Technical brilliance and wizardry is missing too.

Comparatively speaking, the second half is not as boring as the first. The love story involving Laila somehow makes the film watchable. Her sweet Tamil minimizes the feeling that it is a dubbed film. The sudden end to Mansoor Akhtar, the terrorist is a good turning point to the film. It is also very suspenseful to watch Dileep being led away separately by Jaffer Khan’s men only to be told later that Laila was the one who had arranged for it.

It is childish to see Prabhu and his men decide to speak in Tamil because nobody else in the enemy camp knows it. But, it has been made keeping the audience in mind.

It is very unnecessary on the part of Jaffer Khan’s men to make Prabhu’s girlfriend immolate herself. Kalabhavan Mani has also appeared in the film. That’s all.

Azagappan’s cinematography shines once in a while. The songs are very mediocre.

This is a dubbing film. End of the story.