Sikandar: Missed opportunity
Sikandar releases on August 21, 2009
For those who have got the opportunity to watch films like Turtles Can Fly, which have been termed modern cinema classics because, among other things, of their unwavering focus on the child protagonists, Sikandar will be a let down. Let down because the film tries to go beyond the protagonist’s viewpoint more than often, veering off to the adults’ viewpoint. That is where the film falters, and does that big time.
It starts off quite promisingly, with a stunning sequence that takes one from complete innocence to destruction of it in a jiffy. As cinematographer Somak Mukherjee captures life of an idyllic small town in Kashmir constantly reminding the viewer about why that state is called paradise on earth, we get introduced to Sikandar (Parzaan Dastur, the child actor of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Parzania), who wants to grow up as a famous footballer, and then to Nasreen (Ayesha Kapoor of Black), whose demeanour holds the promise of something mysterious.
One day, as the two are going to school through a pine-leafed jungle track, Sikandar finds a pistol lying on the pathway. Nasreen forbids him not to pick it up, but he does, because it is an instrument with which he can scare the school bullies. But then, things are not that simple, as Sikandar finds out, as he moves from one crisis to another, with violence escalating all around him. From here onwards, it becomes more of a political thriller that reveals a few shocking truths to Sikandar, and that is where the film wavers from its promising beginning.
In fact, the film’s constant track change – from the child protagonist’s story to that of the adults around him – develops into a drawback, and the final denouement comes with twists that are abrupt and unexplained. Sanjay Suri’s performance as a surrendered militant leader with an agenda is quite convincing, while Madhavan does not get much to do in an army colonel’s role. Debutant Arunodoy Singh, as a young militant leader, is a looker but his accent betrays his upper crust upbringing. Ayesha Kapoor, whose character has complex shades, is barely passable, not able to project the body language of a girl from Kashmir small town.
The film works mostly thanks to Parzaan Dastur’s depiction of an innocent young boy who finds the thrill of power running from the barrel of a gun, though at great cost, and the director’s courage to tell a story, despite the drawbacks in the way he does it, about how confused young people get drawn to violent ways in regions where life itself means surviving from violence. But then, Santosh Sivan’s Tahan has done it far more subtly and brilliantly in recent times, and Shoojit Sircar’s Yahan has done it far more dramatically within the Indian context. And things like an army colonel leading a search operation without any bullet proof jacket on, while all his men are bullet-proofed, or Sikandar trying to shoot a man with his gun in full view in a crowded market area are quite jarring in a movie that seeks to tell its story in a realistic mode. Sikandar is what one usually terms a case of missed opportunities.
Tags: Ayesha Kapoor, Big Pictures, Cine Raas Entertainment, Madhavan, Parzaan Dastur, sanjay suri, Sikandar
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I am sorry to write this, but your review may be a bit of a missed opportunity. The film may not be perfect, as few films ever are and that is painfully pointed out on this forum day after day, but it does show those of us who have not grown up in conflict what it’s like to do so, and how easily human beings can fall into the trap of violence. Are you from Kashmir? Because if you are, I argue with you no further. But if you are not, my own POV is that ‘Sikandar’ is a well-acted, well executed film and those tiny details that may have been done ‘wrong’ simply added to the charm of the film for me.
Nina, see, film is such an emotionally-charged art form that each individual might have a different opinion about one particular film. I have mine and you have yours, and that’s about it. No point in trying to impose one’s views on others.
Having said that, I agree with you that no film is perfect, and that “it does show those of us who have not grown up in conflict what it’s like to do so, and how easily human beings can fall into the trap of violence”. But that does not necessarily make it a great film. A good attempt at the most it is.
That’s exactly is the point actually – that we tend to accept slightly off-the-run-of-the-mill stuff as great stuff. If you look at Sikandar as a standalone film, well, it is a good film, but it is quite but natural to compare creative efforts with others from the same genre. And now that we have to some extent good access to world cinema, it is quite but natural to measure up our own filmmakers against what others across the world are doing. If you have not already seen them, please see Turtles Can Fly, Osama, Children of Heaven…there are quite a few others…which have children as protagonists (though not necessarily in conflict backdrops), and you will maybe understand the point I am trying to make.
And I am sure if Piyush Jha reads this, he will look at it as a positive input. Any artist aspiring to improve looks for positive criticism, and pointing out what one individual thinks are flows in his/her work (not necessarily to be agreed upon by anyone else) is part of that process.
And no, I am not from Kashmir, but I have grown up in another conflict zone of India, amidst violence, and quite a bit of it.
Indian Army officers often go without bullet proof jackets in a sort of misplaced heroism, although regulations forbid it. Besides, the word ‘jacket’ can be misleading. It is a heavy piece of equipment with two 3″ thick front-back steel plates inside it. So obviously everyone is reluctant to wear it!
Tahaan…and brilliant???? IMHO was the most overhyped piece of predicatble tripe. Dont know why we have to always praise blindly shit cinema if it comes with an Art house label.
Tahaan and ‘blind shit’? In what sense?
Tahaan was a great film, despite all the known and stereotyped faces.
I long felt after watching the promos of ‘Sikandar’ that it was trying to be a ‘Tahaan’!! it was grenade in ‘Tahaan’ and its a pistol in ‘Sikandar’ . But Tahaan had the magical realism which totally transported it to another level and Sikandar tries so hard to do but fails miserably.
Tahaan and magical realism! What a load of ….Why can’t films be judged by the audience rather that than a lot of wannabe critics who probably have no qualification to write even a literary piece let alone a critique of a movie.
I felt that Sikandar was a mediocre movie.. notwithstanding what it wanted to communicate… on the other hand, Tahaan was definitely brilliant..