Bhuj - The Pride of India Movie Review: Ajay Devgn produces and stars in Bhuj: The Pride of India, based on the real-life battle that happened near the Bhuj airbase during the Indo-Pak 1971 War. Directed by Abhishek Dudhaiya who is also the writer (along with Raman Kumar, Ritesh Shah and Pooja Bhavoria), the film also stars Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, Ammy Virk, Nora Fatehi, Pranitha Subhash and Sharad Kelkar. Aseem Bajaj is the cinematographer, Dharmendra Sharma is the editor, while Amar Mohile has composed the background score for Bhuj. Bhuj - The Pride of India: Ajay Devgn Meets Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Thanks the Latter for His Time and Encouragement.
Bhuj - The Pride of India begins with Ajay Devgn narrating how the 1971 liberation of Bangladesh war happened, and how this resulted in Pakistan Air Force attacking several air-bases in Western India including Bhuj. With the flying strip severely damaged, it is upto Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik (Ajay Devgn) to restore the strip with the help of the local villagers, led by a fierce Sunderben (Sonakshi Sinha), so that the Indian Army can land their troops and fend off Pakistani attack.
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Before I sat to watch Bhuj, I got to read this tweet that reminded Bollywood about how August 15 is celebrated for gaining independence from British, and not for beating Pakistan in a war. The context of the tweet is that we have three biggies coming during Independence Day weekend, and two of them - Shershaah and Bhuj - are about wars with Pakistan, while Bell Bottom is a spy thriller that also involves Pakistan. Well, someone tell that Twitter user that Pakistan bashing is exactly what amounts to patriotism these days. Bhuj – The Pride of India Twitter Review: Ajay Devgn’s War Film Garners Mixed Response From Netizens.
And if you are the ones to believe in that sentiment and found Shershaah 'lacking' in that aspect, this hollow excuse of a propaganda-disguised-as-a-war-drama is just for you. Right from the first scene, Bhuj is clear about its intentions. We have Pakistani army majors proudly boasting their bloodlust by recounting the millions massacred in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). When told how India has been helping out Bangladesh, the major says 'Yeh wohi Hindustan hai na jaha humne 400 saal raaj kiye the?' (is this the same India that we ruled for 400 years?). Huh?
Of course, if the implication of that statement isn't clear, then a few scenes later, Karnik tells his enemy on the phone that they are descendants of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who brought down the Mughals to their knees and who rewrote history with his blood. I can hear my WhatsApp uncles clapping over this!
This is just a small dose of the kind of jingoism injected in this film, as this hate-mongering gets better (or worse) ahead. There is another not-so-sly piece of attack where Dutt. who plays RAW informer Ranchordas Pagi (Sanjay Dutt) (who also turns a soldier as per the convenience of the script) tells how we don't allow the killing of innocent animals, and then proceeds to kill Pakistani soldiers over this. Subtle, I must say! Even more 'subtle' is the proud caste identity declarations, of tales of valour and bravery that a particular clan is known for.
Another interesting scene that I want to point out is Devgn's intro for army officer RK Nair. He says Nair, who is a boxer, had defeated a Pakistani opponent to win a title, but then he also lost his heart to a Muslim disabled lady. Why was these two aspects said in the same sentence? Does he believe that Muslims=Pakistan? Like I said before, this is a film for WhatsApp crowd, and that one of the baddies is named Taimur would only make them even more raucous in excitement.
Not just that, nearly every major Hindu God finds a place in the rousing speeches and motivational scenes, that the Mallu in me was annoyed that Nair didn't invoke Swami Ayyappan at any point. I am no religious person, but some inclusion please! BTW, while I like Kelkar and his deep baritone, did the makers not get any Malayali actor for this role? But then no one is playing here as per their ethnicities so accents are all haywire. And it is not just y+of+Loud+Jingoism%2C+Bad+Editing+and+Direction+%28LatestLY+Exclusive%29&via=latestly" title="Tweet">