Subhash K Jha turns the focus on Rohit Shetty’s 2002 action drama Zameen which starred Abhoshek Bachchan and Ajay Devgan.
Zameen is a very original action thriller. Unlike the other slick flicks about terrorist squads over-dosing on ballistic arsenal this one keeps a tight control over the narrative’s progression. And apart from a shockingly ill-placed and uncharacteristically obtrusive item song Zameen sticks to its guns to the end, thereby creating an atmosphere of severe and yet engrossing professionalism.
Credit for the film’s high-level competence must go to writer Suparn Verma who has bowrrowed from militancy-related newspaper headlines. He blends various well-known terrorist attacks on the Delhi parliament, Akshardham and, more pivotally, the hijacking drama at Kandahar , without bending the rules of popcorn entertainment.
The sly humour underlining the thrills makes Zameen a special film. As a rabberousing politician throws his weight around, Abhishek Bachchan can’t help asking, “Is this man crazy?” Devgan retorts, “No, he’s a leader of the nation.”
A crisp, munchy, and punchy energy emanates from almost every frame of Zameen , making it one of the most watchable actioners in recent times. Though the crosscross of relationships interwoven through a network of cross-border Indo-Pak politics, gets hard to follow in the first-half, the audience has no problem flowing with the spirit of the narrative, right up to the stunning climax where the two officer-heroes join hands to vanquish the terrorists on a tarmac that proves Shakespeare right.
All the world IS a stage, provided you look for the drama with dispassionate eyes. Rohit Shetty peers keenly into current Indian politics and emerges with a slick flick where, for once, terrorism goes beyond being a mere filmy formula. In this endeavour he gets some subtle support from dialogue writer Javed Siddiqui. Not once do the words lapse into cheap anti-Pakistani rhetorics. The harshest words Devgan uses against the militants is, “Unfortunately, in our country, we aren’t allowed to kill dogs.”
The film’s level of intelligence goes beyond the ordinary. There’s a very cleverly written sequence where the militant leader Baba Zahir (Mukesh Tiwari) makes anti-India statements before Col Ranvir (Ajay Devgan). The seething army officer bashes the terrorist in full public view, but not before the press corp discreetly switches off all cameras and microphones.
Such moments of spellbinding populism are hard to come by in mainstream cinema where overstatement is the rule. Zameen chooses to be the exception. Throughout the gripping drama , the debutant director keeps his narrative on a tight leash. Focussing largely on the problem at hand, a subplot about the cop Jai (Abhishek Bachchan) and his fiancee (Bipasha Basu) who happens to be the airhostess on board the hijacked plane (small world!) isn’t allowed to impinge on the structural celerity of the plot.
The director creates tensions both outside and within the militant outfit, with comprehensive confidence. The anguish of the hostages inside the aircraft comes across in bouts of anger and grief. Being the son of a wellknown stunt director of the 1970s and 80s, Rohit Shetty knows the importance of getting the thrills right. Action director Jai Singh does a good job. But you wish those cars wouldn’t spin out of control with choreographed smoothness.
Having said that, it must be mentioned that the chase sequences are unbelievably heart-in-the-mouth. The technique applied to this engaging tale of terrorism during times of rhetorical rumination is near-exemplary. Aseem Bajaj’s cinematography is simply and stunningly outstandingly. The primary colour of the frames is black so that the film looks rugged and yet graceful. Bunty Negi’s editing is also commendable when the narrative doesn’t pause to preen at its own grandeur in the action scenes.
Once again Ajay Devgan delivers an underplayed power-packed performance. In a year that has proved him to be the best working-class hero since Amitabh Bachchan, Devgan exudes power without pausing for applause. Mukesh Tiwari who was so brilliant with Devgan in Gangaajal doesn’t do anything surprisingin the antagonist’s role. As the pilot on-board the hijacked plane Pankaj Dheer makes a bigger impression.
Finally, this film is Abhishek Bachchan’s triumph. As the guilt-laden cop fighting demons outside and inside , Abhishek echoes the clenched tensions of his father in Zanjeer. The actor is equally brilliant in the sequence where he breaks down before Bipasha, and in a lighter moments when , on her imploration, he bursts into an earnest rendition of his Dad’s ‘Kabhi kabhie mere dil mein’.
Aadesh Shrivastava’s background score filled with patriotic props like ‘Bande mataram’ and ‘Satyamev jayate’ knows what it’s doing.
Zameen is a film with a mind. And it uses it to optimum effect. Certainly one of the more watchable films of this year.
