Review

Refugee -- An engrossing first half and a tame second
DIRECTOR JP Dutta’s Refugee starts with the story of a refugee and ends with the birth of another refugee . First and foremost JP fails to justify the title and the character played by Abhishek Bachchan who is called a Refugee and which doesnt have any relevance in the film. The film falls a victim to its own hype and the huge expectations generated by the massive pre-release publicity. The director himself fails to live up to the expectations, in the wake of his last box-office mega-grosser, Border.

The three-and-a-half hour film is too lengthy, and badly needs some urgent trimming. The first half is fairly entertaining with the romance between the lead pair and songs overshadowing the proceedings, but the latter half, replete with twists in the tale, is largely unconvincing.

The story of the film is set against the backdrop of the Rann of Kutch, and the two adjoining villages on either side of the border. A young man called Refugee (Abhishek Bachchan) is into the business of taking people to the other side of the border. The serious-looking guy falls to the charms of a young, vivacious Bangladeshi refugee, Naaz (Kareena Kapoor). Love blossoms between the two.

Mohammed Ashraf (Sunil Shetty) a major with the Pakistan Rangers, also has a crush on Naaz. Unknown to the parents, Naaz is in love with Refugee, and is even carrying his child out of wedlock, thanks to one romantic evening together.

A very different track in the story crops up when Refugee brings in some infiltrators into India with explosives .The commander of the BSF, Raghuvir Singh (Jackie Shroff) has his doubts on Refugee, and keeps track of his movements. Meanwhile, Refugee, once on a rendezvous on the other side of the border, is caught by Ashraf and his Rangers when he tries to flee the village along with Naaz. He is badly beaten up, and sent alone.

Once back home, Raghuvir Singh reforms Refugee with a lengthy speech on nationalism and even inducts him into the BSF to flush out the terrorists. Refugee loses his father Jaan Mohammed (Anupam Kher) and his brother Shadab in an ambush by Pak terrorists who are on a mission to annexe the village to Pakistan. After heavy gunfire, the village is freed. Back in Pakistan, Ashraf relents for his misdeeds and promises a reunion of the two lovers during the mela of Baba Hajipeer along the border.

Naaz is suprised to see her lost love at the mela. Ashraf and Raghuvir Singh arrange a qazi and the nikaah is solemnised in a hurry. The pregnant Naaz delivers a child in the No Man’s Land along the border. There’s a hot debate between the two army officers on the nationality of the child. The peace-loving officers finally call a truce, saying the child is neither from Hindustan nor Pakistan, but from Insaanistan (sic).

Abhishek Bachchan has come up with a seasoned performance in his first film. He has tremendous screen presence and essays his role with remarkable conviction though he appears to be stiff and camera-conscious in certain frames. Kareena Kapoor comes out with a stunning performance and looks very promising. She is quite spontaneous and expressive and goes through her role with remarkable ease. The lead pair should be complimented on putting up a promising performance in roles that are devoid of glamour, and have little help from the script.

Jackie Shroff as the BSF officer fully justifies his role. Sunil Shetty as the Pakistan Rangers underplays his role well and appears convincing. Anupam Kher as the village mukhiya and Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Naaz’s father, lend good support. Ashish Vidyarthi in a brief role, that of an agent helping people cross the border, excels. JP Dutta, normally a gifted technician, errs with the narrative this time. He is caught on a twin-track storyline, that of romance and the Indo-Pak cold war.

Cinematographer Bashir Ali lends good support to the master technician with some amazing frames. Anu Malik ‘s music is just passable and doesn’t boast of any hit numbers. A couple of popular numbers would have definitely made a lot of difference.

Padmaraj Nair

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