The Rainmaker

Movie : Kurukshetra
Language : Malayalam
Date : 10th Oct,2008

Review:
The ‘Mindset’
I have always felt that while watching a war movie, the reviewer should always keep his patriotism aside, till at least the end credits start rolling. Especially, if it’s a war movie involving India, I always make it a point that I keep a control on the patriotic quotient rising inside me and don’t allow that to judge the movie. This is because, after all, every war film is a ‘movie’. And we are here to judge how good the movie is at the end of the day and not the patriotism (which is undoubtedly always good). The patriotism should only act as a supplement while making the final judgment about the movie.This is exactly the same mindset I had when I started to watch ‘Kurushetra’.

The ‘Movie’
Now, on to the movie. ‘Kurushetra’ definitely has its moments. And I truly believe that moments make a war movie (even more important than for a normal movie). Those moments which pack a punch in your hearts. In such movies, you know that these ‘moments’ are being well planned and plotted. For example, when the character Bineesh (Chotta) and his watch come in to reference in the first half, you clearly know that it’s a plot being made for some war ‘moment’ involving him in the second half. Similarly for the soldier who collects ‘Milk Maid’ bottles and the soldier who sends money to build his ‘home’ and so on. But that’s perfectly fine, when something is being done in a good way you tend to give the reigns of your mind to the director and float along on his ways.

Major Ravi has succeeded in many of these so called ‘war moments’. He has gone beyond the ‘usual limits’ to pack those punches. These moments come back to you even after the movie. For Example - The corpse of the soldier who sends money to build his house is taken and kept inside his newly finished house before cremation, is truly going ‘beyond the usual limits’ to pack the punch. So even if you expected the ‘plot’ but this breach of limits is a surprise. I frankly thought that this cremation scene would end where the shot of the new house was shown. Ravi went beyond to leave a mark.
The scene where Mahadevn and team bury the Pak corpses with full honor is another impressive scene. They are wrapped in Pak flags and using proper rituals. Again beyond the limits and packing the punch.

The ‘Milestones’
There are 2 milestone moments which are the clinchers for me. First is at the start of the movie and the Second at the very end. I will elaborate on these.As the movie starts, the scenic Kashmir is shown and credits starts rolling in. Everything looks normal and as usual credits go on till the one for the ‘Producer’. The movie goes on after that. The credit for the ‘director’ doesn’t come immediately. A border confrontation with Pak military is shown. An Indian Soldier is shot and as he falls his cap flies in the air. Freeze!. On the screen we have the cap tumbling in the air and the blue sky in the backdrop. And then the director’s credit appears. Wow, that’s a moment for you!!!

The second one is when you feel that war is over and everything is won. Mahadevan calls his commander and says that his team won’t retract back and leave the 17kms which they have caught in the battle. He says that if he is ordered to return that land for which 13 of his soldiers have died then he would himself die that moment. That’s a clincher for me.

With this movie, Ravi has shown us that he is deeply love with the subject that he is filming and also he has improved a director by leaps and bounds.
The fighter jet’s shoot down sequence in the first half and the last 20 minutes of war sequences are top notch.
The cinematography is good but not as impressive as ‘Keerthichakra’.
Music is fine and evokes the right kind of emotions. ‘Jwalamukhi’ is my pick. Background score is competent.

The ‘Minuses’
Ravi has got many things going right but at the same time he has got many things going wrong as well. When many of those soldier stories evoke some sort of compassion they still don’t choke your heart. And some don’t leave an impression.Just read this situation. As corpses are being carried back to the basement during the battle, a lady army doctor awaits to certify each of them as dead. She and her husband (who is also on the battle filed) have been away from each other due to their fight over careers. She has got her posted to the battle field to meet him. Unknowing that he is one among the batch of corpses she opens the file to sign the corpses as dead. Stop!
Impressed? I think you might be. But just see this piece of story in Kurushetra and it has been reduced to tale which doesn’t create the same impact. Mainly because Biju Menon (who plays the above husband) never evokes any compassion in the story. He is just there for the sake. And the worst is the lady who plays the wife. She is so plastic that it will make you shudder in despair. How could the director commit such a casting blunder?
The same goes for the story of Manikuttan and his lover army nurse. First of all, he never has a part that leaves an impression and secondly the lady actor is pathetic.
Also, the audience is not given a picture on the progress of the war. The terrain and strategy is discussed by Mahadevan once in detail. That’s all. Its never brought in to the picture as the war progresses. Like how many posts captured and how much is left etc? Some clever strategy planned etc. None of this happens. The only saving grace is Siddique’s last cunning act using the communal tag.

Also, as the movie beings we are irked to see that everyone in the team is a Mallu. There is only one Punjabi shown and a few North east guys here and there. As Mahadevan speaks to his non mallu superiors (during the war plan sequence) many a times he does it in Malayalam and they seem to be nodding. This language problem keeps irking your senses much throughout the first half.

In the forum, there were some views of it looking as a documentary. I didn’t get this feeling any point in time.
Regarding performances most of them are competent. Also it’s a refreshing change to see some young people instead of the usual Malayalam war movies with heavily pouted middle aged men in the army.

The role is a cake walk for Mohanlal. He is competent but comes to his own in the last scene which I spoke in the beginning. I liked him in that scene and evoked compassion. But his Hindi is poor. I liked his body language better in Keerthichakra.

The ‘Finale’
After a long review, now to the verdict. Kurushetra is a good movie. It impresses in many parts and many things could have been better as well. I feel that its below the first Ravi movie, Keerthichakra. For me it features among the better movies of the year…. TK, KS, PMT, TP, VOB and MB in that order.
For moments that pack a punch and quite a few of them for that matter. For many casting misses and many things that could have been explored like war tactics etc (only Ravi could have done it).

With all this, I have a 3/5 and A Verdict : Good for Kurushetra.
Go and give your heart out to those ‘moments’ which will pack punches in your psyche!!.