1971

'1971',thoughdealswiththeIndianprisonersofwarsinPakistan,itisn'tafilmthatwouldonlyappealtoIndiansbuttotheworld.Oneofthemostfinelycraftedfilmsofrecenttimes,'1971'scoreshighoneverydepartment.Thoughtheplotisfictitious,thismoviedoesraisethequestionofwhathappenedtotherealprisonersofwarwhowerelastseeninPakistanin1988.Completelyignored,bytherestoftheworld,whathasbecomeofthosebravesoldiers?'1971'isfinelybalanced.Nothingisoverthetoporunrealistic.Itrefrainsfromthestereotypicalhatredandbloodshedthathassooftenbeenshowninfilmsofthisgenre.'1971'isbreathtakinginitstechnicalcraft.Maybeafewsceneswouldhavebeenmoreeffectivewithoutthebackgroundscore.Yet,thescoreitselfismesmerizingandhelpsusfollowthecharacters'journey.AmritSagardeservesimmensecreditfortakingupthechallengeandgivingusafinepieceofworkthroughbrilliantexecution,strongcharacterization(creditalsogoestoPiysuhMishra)andamazingstorytellingthatendswithashatteringconclusion.<br/>　　ManojBajpaideliversthefinestmaleperformanceoftheyear(andoneofhisbest).It'sgreattoseehimafteralongtimewithafilmthatdoesfulljusticetotheactor.TherestofthecastincludingDeepakDobriyal(anotherfineworkafter'Ómkara'),ChittaranjanGiri,RaviKishan,KumudMishra,andManavKaulwereequallyexcellentintheirroles.Thefilmdoesn'thavemanysongsbutthefewwereusedeffectively(inthebackgroundmostly).Screenplayisoneofthebestandissimplybeautiful.IthasitsfewlightmomentsanddarkmomentsbutasIhavementionedabove,nothingoverthetop.Cinematographyiswelldone.Editingisallowsthefilmtobecompleteaseverymomentinthefilmstickstothemainplot.<br/>　　NowIwonderhowsuchafinepieceofworkhasn'treceivedanyattentionfromcriticsoraudiences?Itseemstobealreadyforgottenandithasn'tbeenmorethanafewmonthssinceitsrelease.Iwouldn'tscareawayfromcallingitoneofthebestfilmsandmorepeopleshouldwatchit.I'llquoteanothercommenterbecauseIexactlyfeelthesame¨Watchthismovieforit'spassion.Watchthismovieifyouwanttolearnwhatfilm-makingisallabout.Watchthismovietotakehomesometruefeelingsaboutthepeoplewhohaveneverbeenthoughtof.Don'tletthesandwashaway,preserveyoursoil.Letthetalentberipeinthisdyingbeautifulworld.Butforthealmightysake,don'twatchthismovieforthecritics.Watchitforyourself,watchitaloneandyouwillwalkbackwithgreathonorinyourheart.That'smywordforyou.¨Thisisonemoviethat'snottobemissedasit'sraretofindsomethingasbalanced,brave,brilliantandbeautifulcreatedbyafilmmaker(letaloneadébutant).