Set in the turmoil of the disputed Kashmir Valley between 1989 and 1999, the mission actually starts after a series of life-altering events. Sanjay Dutt plays an Indian Muslim police officer, who in the line of duty, accidentally kills a Muslim Kashmiri family. The sole survivor of the clan is the young Altaaf Hrithik Roshan. The police officer adopts him at his wife's insistence since they both just lost their own son in an accident. When the traumatized boy finds out that the masked man in his nightmares who murdered his familiy is his new stepfather, he flees, swearing revenge. Several years later he has become a grown up deadly fighting machine and time for revenge has come...
Malik Ul Khan has issued a fatwa holy order instructing all Kashmiri residents that they are not to provide any support of any kind of SSP Inayat Khan and his soldiers. When Inayat's son is injured in a domestic accident, a doctor breaks the rules, but is unable to save Irfan. The doctor and all of his family are brutally and mercilessly hunted down and killed by terrorists. When Inayat entraps Malik, there is a shoot-out, and as a result, Malik and several other innocent by-standers are killed. One of the survivors is young Altaaf, who watched his entire family being killed by a masked Indian soldier. Inayat takes this child to live with him and his Hindu wife, Neelima. Years later, Altaaf has grown up calling Neelima and Inayat "Ammi and Abba"., and has found out that the masked soldier was none other than Inayat himself. Altaaf breaks off his relationship and re-locates to Kashmir and joins with a group of terrorist who want an independent Kashmir. When the Indian Prime Minister decides to visit the region, Altaaf and his group are ready to carry out their deadly strike and destabilize the region and country. When Inayat attempts to take this assignment, his superiors refuse to accede to his request. It is then that Inayat finds out that the target of the terrorists is not the Indian Prime Minister, but two places of worship - Hindu and Islamic - and that the agenda of the terrorists is to shoot a missile at each of these holy places, so that the Hindus would blame the Muslims and vice versa, thus leading to riots and virtually unstoppable bloodshed.
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'Mission Kashmir': A wrap worth looking out for
So it is Hrithik-time again. And how! Just his colored eyes showing with a killer's expression from a black monkey cap covering the rest of his face, tells you clearly that the guy is out on a tough mission.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra's tough mission is Mission Kashmir. And as the name suggests, the film is built around the strife-ridden Kashmir. Though militancy is fast becoming a way of life in the Valley, the film still, very pertinently questions the need of violence that has been consistently disrupting peace, order and beauty of Kashmir.
Vinod brought his film to New Delhi for a special screening for the President of India. And insiders say that the first family liked it. After debacles like 1942: A Love Story and Kareeb, Vinod needs a hit to bring back his diluted glory and Mission Kashmir should be the right instrument for it.
That the film's release coincides with the release of Yash Chopra's Mohabbatein is not a dampener because Vinod has the mighty Hrithik to back him. Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy have done good work for the music of the film and Preity looks a perfect Kasmiri beauty providing romantic relief in the otherwise action-packed militant affair.
Mission Kashmir is the story of a Kashmiri boy who is witness to the wiping out of his entire family by a BSF officer. The boy develops a hatred for the BSF officer and wants to avenge the death of his family.
The boy grows up, gets himself adopted by the BSF officer and his wife and lives with them like their son. All the while clandestinely designing their murder. Not for a moment do the foster parents get to know of their adopted son's intentions.
The boy, now a handsome young man, trains himself under a dreaded terrorist and his gang and becomes a terrorist himself, all circumstantial. His beloved tries to dissuade him from going on the path of militancy, explains him the futility of wars but the memory of his murdered parents fail to subdue the burning embers within him.
The young Kashmiri man on war-path is played by Hrithik Roshan, his love is Preity Zinta. Sunjay Dutt and Sonali Kulkarni are Hrithik's foster parents. Jackie Shroff appears in a brilliant cameo as the terrorist whose group Hrithik joins.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra is famous for camera work and editing. With the backdrop of the original Valley, some beautiful and rugged faces, brilliant performances and good music, Mission Kashmir should be worth watching. Another interesting aspect of the film is that its script has been co-written by award-winning novelist Vikram Chandra for his brother-in-law Vidhu Vinod Chopra. So there's no reason why the audience should not be in the grip of such a narrative.
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