Since Manirathnam brought Kashmir and Pakistan in focus in Bollywood cinema in his movie ' Roza', there have been many attempts to cash in on this core issue that has been the cause of trouble for the country for over 50 years. It became a fashion to hurl bad words at Pakistan and depict its officers as villain in the Hindi Cinema. Directors like Anil Sharma and J.P.Dutta tried to build their career on this issue and sometime they succeeded too. Pak bashing became the fashion of the day until both the countries tried to resolve their issue via talks, thanks to the initiative taken by the Vajpayee government. The change in the mood between the neighboring countries is quite visible in relations these days and it has showed its impact on cinema too.
So while in the last week's release 'Main Hoon Naa', the hero not only advocates better relations between the two countries, he also puts his life in danger to champion the cause. A film that opens the wounds at this time is not a good idea. 'Sheen', directed by Ashok Pandit himself a Kashmiri pandit, is being exhibited in theatres at a wrong time. 'Sheen' deals with the plight of Kashmiri pandits of the valley. The problem of Kashmiri pandits has been a major issue in the valley since it originated, but has never become a national issue. So 'Sheen' may find it very difficult to click with the general audience. Director Ashok Pandit has made a brave attempt to unearth the trauma and pain of Kashmiri pandits on the silver screen and it may get applause too on international level. However, as a commercial film, it may not turn viable.
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The film has Sheen (Sheen, a new actress makes debut with the film) as the main character. She is the daughter of Pandit Amarnath (Raj Babbar). She loves Mannu (Tarun Arora) and lives happily in the Kashmir valley. The bells ring and the life sings a swan song till the valley is struck by the militants. These militants want to throw away Kashmiri pandits out of the valley. Pandits are in no mood to leave their motherland. When no once comes to their rescue they are forced to leave their homes and take shelter in refugee camps built in Jammu.
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The life for them comes to a standstill and there is no one either in state or in the Center to listen to their problems. Most of them take it as their destiny. But Pandit Amarnath doesn't take it easy. He decides to champion the cause of the Kashmiri pandits and raise his voice against the militants. He travels from the refugee camps in Jammu to Geneva to make the world aware of the plight of the Kashmiri pundits. On the other hand is Sheen who witnesses vertical changes in her life as her love is too badly affected with the upsurge of militants.
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Sheen should be welcome as there have not been many attempts to showcase the grief and anger of the minority community in Kashmir. Pandits have suffered a lot in the valley during the last five decades or so. Though there have been many films on Kashmir from 'Roja' to 'Mission Kashmir', but none dared delve in this area. Director Ashok Pandit makes a brave attempt in this regard. But 'Sheen' being a commercial film has its flaws too working against it at the box office.
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The most important fact is its timing. Had the film been released few years back, it would have got more favorable response from the audience. Also the marketing strategy for the film is wrong. It would have been more appropriate to release the film in international circuit first and then bring it to the country. Delhi does not favor films like these now. But this cannot subdue the intention of the filmmaker, though inclusion of the love angle to the story may mar its total impact. Had he stuck to the realistic approach, 'Sheen' would have received more applause than the criticism.
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Technically, 'Sheen' is a brilliant movie. Ashok Pandit has got good friends in Raman Kumar and Agni Shekhar as writers though the script needed more crisp handling. It has a very good cinematography by Nadeem Khan. Dialogues by Raman Kumar too hold the attention. Nadeem- Shravan has sounded melodious after a long gap but the lyrics fall short of expectations. Among actors, it is Raj Babbar who should won an award or two for his volcanic performances in the film. The veteran is in form after so many years. After seeing 'Sheen' one can only regret that a wonderful actor like him has been wasted for so many years by the filmmakers of Bollywood. As Pandit Amarnath, Raj Babbar has left an impression that will be remembered for years. 'Sheen' makes a nice debut, and Anoop Soni makes his presence felt. But the present time seems to be working against the movie and it has tough competition with the last week's release 'Main Hoon Naa' at the box office.
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