Director Anil 'Gadar' Sharma strikes back. If his last flick talked about rivalry between India and Pakistan, this time around he is advocating the friendship but not coated in sugar. 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon' (the name reminds of the famous patriotic song from Chetan Anand's movie 'Haqeeqat'). It has all that makes Anil Sharma a director of violent films.
It has loads of war scenes, charred bodies, deceit and friendship-- all woven in one story plus the love angle (he lifts this from famous Hollywood movie 'Pear Harbor' this time). Anil Sharma who made a name for himself by making movies like 'Huqumat' and 'Tehlka' with Dharmendra, reached the peak of his career with films 'Gadar' and 'Hero -- Love Story of A Spy' with Dharmendra's son Sunny Deol.
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And, now he has roped in Bobby Deol in 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon'. This makes him a rare director to have worked with two generations of the same family in Bollywood. Anil has accumulated a huge star cast from Amitabh Bachchan to Akshay Kumar and from Nagma and Sandali Sinha to newfound Divya Khosla. 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon' will go a long way to show how a film fails to ignite the viewers' curiosity with the changing time. If 'Lakshya' flopped because of changing relationships between India and Pakistan, 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon' will find it hard to sustain the same pressure for its illogical end.
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'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon' revolves mainly around four men. Amarjeet Singh (Amitabh Bachchan) is an army officer. He is a hardcore patriotic Hindustani and has been a witness to the death of his own son Vikramjeet Singh (Bobby Deol) who lays his life for Mother India. Many years later Vikramjeet's son Kunal (Bobby Deol in a double role) has grown up in a handsome lad. Amarjeet wants this young man to join army and serve the nation but Kunal wants to live life on his own will. He joins army but his plans are different.
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He sees his future overseas but a trip to Jaisalmer festival changes his life. There he meets with beautiful diva Shweta (Divya Khosla). He falls for her though he knows that Shweta has been married to an army officer. His love for her does not diminish. Shweta is wife of Rajiv (Akshay Kumar) an army officer who has been captured by the enemy across the border. He is a prisoner of war and is struggling hard to get back to his nation. Rajiv manages to get back home. He meets another young officer hell bent to marry his wife. In between, a Pakistani militant group plans to attack Amaranth pilgrimage, but the Indian army foils their plan. When the tension is sky high, the film suddenly takes a U- turn and starts talking about friendship between the two nations.
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While watching the film 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon', it is quite clear that Anil had thought of some action plan earlier but had to end it up with another strategy to salvage the film from the changed climate in the country vis-à-vis Pakistan. While he banked solely on anti-Pakistan theme in his last two films 'Gadar' and 'Hero-Love Story of A Spy,' this time it could not be the case after January 6 th declaration by both countries. So, Anil Sharma tries to mellow down the Pak bashing and ends up in a mess of the original plot. Anil Sharma is good in weaving action, drama, emotion and love all together but in 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon' he has faltered at many places.
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Establishing the actions of its heroes rightfully lacks credibility. So also the love triangle between Bobby-Divya-Akshay lacks justice and emotions. Anil Sharma's team mate Shaktimaan does come out with some hard hitting dialogues but that does not serve the propose this time around. Though, cinematography of the movie (By Kabir Lal) is world class and action sequences (by Tinu Verma) are at par with Hollywood war films, 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon' finds it hard to keep the pace intact. Music director Anu Malik has once again created a record by composing a song of 21 minutes' duration. But, there is no song that has ability to make them click like the songs of 'Border'.
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Among actors, it is Akshay who gets the most of the meatiest roles in the film and he does justice the too. His dialogues in Pakistani jail are delivered with finesse. Bobby Deol once again proves that given a right role he can do wonders. Basically he is a director's actor. Amitabh Bachchan brings in class for the film. Among females, Divya Khosla shows potential and Sandali Sinha too looks graceful.
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Nagma is not the right choice for the role that she does in the film. On the whole, 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon' will find it hard to get through the festive season. Having seen light of the day after so many date reshuffles it has finally reached theatres at a time when people are in joyous mood and want to see something extra ordinary in terms of entertainment. The film will get more patronage in interiors than in metros.
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