Shaurya Review

Former journalist turned director Samar Khan returns to direction after the collapse of Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye. This time Samar explores the very essence of bravery in a film that deals primarily with the army and its court martial procedure.

The film talks about Captain Javed Khan (Deepak Dobriyal) who is charged with killing his superior. He is also charged with mutiny and treason. And even though the case appears to be an `open and shut' one with the army just following proceedings of the Court Martial with a Defense and a Prosecution lawyer appointed, Javed refuses to speak. Siddhanth Chaudhary (Rahul Bose) and Major Aakash Kapoor (Jaaved Jaffery) are best friends with conflicting views on the case.

Things start getting a little sour between the friends when  Major Siddhanth Chaudhary  who is appointed to defend Javed, stuns his friend Major Aakash Kapoor who is the prosecuting lawyer by drawing Brigadier Pratap [Kay Kay Menon] to court. The Brigadier is questioned about his operations and techniques of functioning. Why is the Brigadier against Javed? Will Javed's silence speak up? Meanwhile, journalist Kaavya Shastri (Minisha Lamba) is out there to unveil the truth.

To start off with, Shaurya isn't a jingoistic film. It isn't an LOC or Border kind of film with bloodshed and all the works. The film is centered upon a court martial and the silence of the accused. A lot of comparisons have been drawn to Rob Reiner's `A few good men' starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson with Rahul Bose essaying Tom Cruise and Kay Kay, Jack Nicholson's character.

Director Samar Khan no doubt outsmarts his previous piece of work. Shaurya has its moments but the buildup of the plot tends to get a little dragging. The first half of the film really doesn't have much to offer and the script tends to get loose.

No doubt Samar has carefully crafted the characters and most of all, their setting. The look of the film is sleek with the militia essence being expressed in every aspect of the film be it the tidy uniforms, the court room , the body language of each and every character etc.

The film really catches on towards the last 15mins or so. The court room sequence which has Rahul Bose questioning Kay Kay is just splendid. The dialogues are intense and just observe the way Kay Kay explodes in that scene. Kay Kay does well as Hitler's younger brother. Though he is hardly there in the film, he simply steals the show. Kay Kay is surely headed for greater roles post Shaurya.

Rahul Bose does well but certainly this isn't his finest piece of work. He walks and talks in style but certain scenes in the film could have been avoided to make the character crisp. The Rahul -Minisha Lamba tea encounter was a waste.

Minisha Lamba on the other hand lacks believability as the journalist yet she does ok. There isn't much scope for her in the film and it's so hard to see Minisha in a role that transforms our cute Yahaan girl into a street smart journalist.

Javeed Jafary surprises you with his performance. After all those Salam Namaste and Dhamaal comic roles the actor proves that he too has genes to get serious according to the script. He too impresses in the court room sequence and elegantly carries himself.

Deepak Dobriyal is one actor who truly impresses with his silence. He carries himself with utmost poise and excels. Seema Biswas as his mother is ok. Amrita Rao is effective in a tiny role as the widow of the officer who has been shot.

The film offers not much scope for music and the much hyped Shahrukh Khan poetry appears as the credit rolls. `Dheere Dheere' is good but songs such hinder the f