22 August,2009 11:33 AM IST | | Subhash K Jha
What's It About: Militancy-hit Kashmir has a new film to reckon with. Happily, Sikandar has two engaging child actors playing the lead. Parzan plays young Kashmiri boy Sikandar, who on the way back homeu00a0 from school, finds a gun by the roadside.
His friend Nasreen (Ayesha Kapoor) advises him to leave the gun alone. Sikandar sneaks the gun into his schoolbag anyway, to intimidate school bullies. Soon the gun and everything it represents, spins straight out of Sikandar's hand.
Wisely, the narrative picks two talented children to play the protagonists. The two child actorsu00a0 are natural as far as the unnatural disturbances guiding the plot allow them to be.
The scenic splendour of Sikandar is never compromised. The director is discernibly in love with Kashmir though not at the character's expense.
Somak Mukherjee's camera work is competent. Sanjay Suri as the deceptively suave politician smiles mysteriously through an under-written role.
u00a0
Madhavan amply and intelligentlyu00a0 fillsu00a0 the very limited space offered to him play the fence-walking army-man. Arunoday Singh as the not-so-reluctant terrorist had a watchable screen presence.
What's Not: Theu00a0 politicians, terrorists and maulvis form a tiny circle of cleaned-out conflict, and that suits the film's purposes fine as long as the drama doesn't get diluted. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens with the characters and the drama becomes progressively weak.
What to do: It's a sincere attempt that doesn't quite draw out the emotions it means to.
Sikandar
U/A; Drama
Dir: Piyush Jha
Cast: Madhavan, Sanjay Suri, Ayesha Kapoor, Parzan Dastur and Arunoday Singh
''
Sikandar At a theatre near you
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