Sarzameen

An army man sworn to protect his country at any cost. Even if the cost is his young son’s life. It resembles the premise of the Dilip Kumar-Amitabh Bachchan starrer Shakti (1982), tautly directed by Ramesh Sippy. Dilip Kumar had played uncompromising DCP Ashwini Kumar who wouldn’t negotiate with a gangster even if it meant endangering son Vijay’s life. Vijay, played by Amitabh Bachchan, had grown up resenting his father and had purposefully walked off in the opposite direction – to the world of crime. Travel to a troubled Kashmir in the 90s and transplant the Shakti theme against an Indo-Pak backdrop, with Soumil Shukla and Arun Singh (along with Kausar Munir and Jehan Handa) taking credit for story, screenplay and dialogues. After running to the rescue of his men who’ve walked into a trap, a fierce exchange of fire and much hand-to-hand combat, staunch army man Vijay Menon (Prithviraj Sukumaran) captures dreaded brothers Qaabil (KC Shankar) and Aabil (Rohed Khan). But when his own son Harman (Ronav Parihar) is nabbed, Vijay faces the toughest decision of his life – release the terror brothers who are wreaking havoc in the valley in exchange for his son?

‘वतन के आगे कुछ नहीं, खुद भी नहीं।’ फिल्म ‘राज़ी’ का यह डायलॉग तो आपको याद ही होगा! निर्माता करण जौहर अब उसी तर्ज पर अपनी नई देशभक्ति फिल्म लेकर आए हैं। फिल्म का नाम है- सरजमीन, और सार है- सरजमीं के आगे कुछ नहीं, बेटा भी नहीं। लेकिन अफसोस कि देशभक्ति के जज्बे से लेकर रिश्तों की भावनाओं तक, करण जौहर की यह फिल्म किसी मायने में ‘राज़ी’ के करीब भी नहीं फटकती। कश्मीर की खूबसूरत वादियों में सेट यह कहानी है, देश को सबसे ऊपर रखने वाले जांबाज आर्मी अफसर कर्नल विजय मेनन (पृथ्वीराज सुकुमारन) की, जो एक मुठभेड़ में दो आतंकियों आबिल और काबिल को गिरफ्तार कर लेता है। इन दोनों को रिहा करवाने के लिए आतंकी विजय के बेटे हरमन (इब्राहिम अली खान) को अगवा कर लेते हैं। अब विजय को देश और बेटे में से किसी एक को चुनना है। अपनी पत्नी मेहरूनिसा (काजोल) के दबाव में आकर पिता के दिल के आगे वह झुक भी जाता है और बेटे के बदले इन आतंकियों को छोड़ने को तैयार हो जाता है, मगर ऐन मौके पर देश के प्रति उसका कर्तव्य जाग जाता है।

Kayoze Irani’s Sarzameen reminded me of another, very different Kajol film. I won’t say which, or why. What I will say is that if you’re hoping to land a wild plot twist, at least flesh out enough characters that the viewer can’t figure out the reveal through simple deduction. Something about eliminating the impossible… This is the second film in two months set in modern-day Kashmir and revolving around the armed forces serving there. Ground Zero, released days after the Pahalgam attack, is about a model BSF officer, devoted to his wife and young daughter. It’s the more interesting of the two films, building to the verge of critical self-assessment before retreating to the safer ground of patriotic duty. Sarzameen has a more fractious military family at its centre. Colonel Vijay Menon (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is introduced with a dramatic victory, leading the capture of separatist Qaabil (K.C. Shankar), believed to be the shadowy string-puller ‘Mohsin’. But in the very next scene—in what will become a pattern—he’s handed a defeat at home, at a party hosted by his wife, Meher (Kajol). She has a surprise: their son, Harman, wants to say a few words about his father. But the boy can’t overcome his stutter, and is embarrassed into silence by the pointed murmuring of guests and his father’s clear discomfort.

If I downed a tequila shot every time someone uttered ‘sarzameen’ in, well, ‘Sarzameen’, I would be drunk till the time Ibrahim Ali Khan became a good actor. Which, going by how things stand at the moment, is a ’naadaan’ (iyan) thought. To be fair, Ibrahim does show some improvement from his debut a few months ago — which was more of a face-meets-palm moment than a jaw-drops-to-floor experience for we the viewers — but Sarzameen, now streaming on JioHotstar, is such a patience-testing assault-on-the-eardrums kind of film that you end up feeling that Saif Ali Khan’s son — along with principal actors Prithviraj Sukumaran and Kajol (credited as Kajol Devgan here) — is the one who has got the raw end of the stick. Sarzameen — though set in the familiar territory of Kashmir-based insurgency and the tense battle in the valley between the Indian army and state-sponsored terrorism — could have made for a riveting watch, at least given the names involved. Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions is the producer, while Kayoze Irani — actor Boman Irani’s son — makes his directorial debut.

Dharma Productions’ new political thriller Sarzameen, directed by Kayoze Irani, is largely a family drama. But the emotional dynamics between the parents and child, played by Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kajol, and Ibrahim Ali Khan, are thinly connected. Their internal tension is dragged over two hours and 17 minutes in a narrative set in the Kashmir Valley. The thriller is weak, and the story of Sarzameen fails to reel you in. Colonel Vijay Menon (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is a proud Army officer who goes above and beyond his duty. He is posted in Kashmir along with his wife, Meher (Kajol), and son, Harman (Ronav Parihar). The young boy, who often stammers, craves his father’s approval. But Vijay has his outdated thinking of what it requires to be a man. Meher tries to mend their relationship, but it cracks further after Harman is used as leverage by terrorists. This further damages the father-son relationship and becomes a question of choice for Vijay: who will he pick, family or country?

फिर ये ‘बॉलीवुड’ वाले कलपते हैं कि हमारे बच्चों को ‘नेपो किड्स’ मत कहिए, हम उन्हें नेपोटिज़्म के चलते फिल्में नहीं देते हैं बल्कि उनका टेलेंट देख कर काम देते हैं। तो भैया करण जौहर जी, ज़रा यह बताइए कि सैफ अली खान के सुपुत्र इब्राहीम अली खान का कौन-सा टेलेंट देख कर आपने उन्हें एक साथ ‘नादानियां’ और ‘सरज़मीन’ (Sarzameen) जैसी बड़ी फिल्मों में लिया? मार्च, 2025 में आई ‘नादानियां’ में इब्राहीम के ‘टेलेंट’ को तो आप ‘देख’ ही चुके होंगे। रही-बची कसर अब ‘सरज़मीन’ में दिख गई है। ‘सरज़मीन’ का निर्देशन आपने अभिनेता बोमन ईरानी के बेटे कायोज़ ईरानी को दिया। चलिए, वह तो कुछ फिल्मों में असिस्टैंट और ‘अजीब दास्तान्स’ की एक कहानी को अच्छे-से डायरेक्ट कर भी चुके हैं। लेकिन ‘सरज़मीन’ में उनके डायरेक्शन का ‘टेलेंट’ और उससे भी बढ़ कर किसी कथा-पटकथा को चुनने व उसे फिल्माने की उनकी प्रतिभा देख कर आपको सोचना होगा कि आप कैसे-कैसों पर भरोसा करने लगे हैं। कश्मीर की पृष्ठभूमि पर लिखी गई इस कहानी में एक आर्मी अफसर है जिसका मानना है कि सरज़मीन की सलामती से बढ़ कर कुछ भी नहीं, बेटा भी नहीं। ऐसे में वह झूल रहा है फर्ज़ और मोहब्बत के बीच। एक दिन वही बेटा उसके सामने आ खड़ा होता है। उधर उसकी पत्नी इन दोनों के बीच पुल बनाने का काम कर रही है।