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'Refugee' See it for direction, cinematography and a Bachchan

By Tanuka Chakraverty
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

So the cat is finally out of the bag. Refugee releases today all over the world amidst huge anticipation, curiosity and fanfare.

Every aspect of the film, including music, cinematography, locales, background score and the leading pair, has been discussed, debated and rated threadbare. Except, of course, the storyline of the film.

While Refugee's leading pair, Abhishekh Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor, were deliberately kept away from limelight to avoid getting over-exposed, director J P Dutta left no stone unturned for the film's right publicity and opening. Bachchan senior even requested director Guddu Dhanoa to postpone the release of his film 'Bichchoo' by a week to avoid the dent a simultaneous release could make to Refugee.

Long queues in front of cinema halls showing the film is a common sight today. Policemen in-charge of security are not only dealing with a boisterous crowd but also maintaining an alert on touts black-marketeering tickets.

'Refugee' is, essentially, a love story set against the backdrop of sarhad, post- Partition ethos, rules and laws. A poetic rendering of how God just created humans and love and how mankind erected walls, boundaries, thus creating blocks, communities and nations, in a baritone (Abhishekh's?) sets the pace of the film.

The plot thickens when a nameless refugee (Abhishekh Bachchan) and the beautiful Naaz (Kareena Kapoor) fall in love and are faced with a set of trials, tribulations and sometimes cruel opposition in the form of a police officer (Jackie Shroff) and are on the verge of separating. Their fault is their trans-border romance.

The song panchchi, nadiyaan, pawan ke jhoken, koi sarhad na inhey roke…..sarhad insaanon ke liye hain, socho tumne aur maine kya paaya, insaan hoke is a true representation of the film, which when translated is something like 'Borders dividing nations don't confine birds, rivers, breeze. Borders are meant for mankind. By virtue of being human beings, that is all we have got'.

One aspect of the film that springs a surprise is the consummate ease with which the debutantes Abhishekh and Kareena have performed. It does not look from anywhere that the two are acting for the first time. Something which background scorer Aadesh Shrivastav echoes: ''Both Abhishekh and Kareena ooze confidence and are learners. People are bound to notice them''.

Though the film at times gets slow, Dutta tightens his grip by inserting high-velocity drama to maintain pace. Rann of Kutch is delectable and in the end, Abhishekh Bachchan does whisk nostalgia. There's something about the boy that strongly reminds us of Amitabh.

The music is so-so. Anu Malik is brazen about 'Mere Humsafar', a direct lift from yesteryear's 'yeh shaam ki tanhaiyaan' sung by Lata. Refugee should be seen for three reasons. Firstly the canvas, secondly cinematography and thirdly the star-children leading pair

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