For a production
house known for its fluffy romances and chiffon
saris, it is really surprising and yes, commendable
they backed a film that addresses some real global
issues and politics, that too by a first time
director. The danger of being pedantic or polemic
was rife, and the danger of trying to avoid that
pitfall by resorting to gimmickry lines like “You
from India? From the land of Amitabh
Bachchan, Sharukh Khan, Amir Khan…?”
was also rife, but the director successfully manages
to seek a balance between the two extremes and
delivers a fairly clean cut movie that is set
in a time frame of 48-hours and involves 5 characters
who are thrown into a jeep, literally called Kabul
Express in their search for the elusive Taliban
forces who are on the run after US intervention
post 9/11.
What starts off as a routine documentary journey
showcasing the land and its people ravaged by
25-years of civil war is, within 20 minutes down
the film, hooked into a proper plot when Imran
Khan Afridi (Salman Shahid), a Talibani, hijacks
the jeep in which the two Indian journalists -
Suhel Khan and Jai Kapoor (John Abraham and Arshad
Warshi) are traveling; he wants a safe passage
to the borders of Pakistan now that the people
of Afghanistan are literally hounding the Talibs.
On the way Jessica (Linda Arsenio), a young American
journalist who calls herself a ‘sensible
American’ also joins the group necessitated
through a plot device that involves a ragtag set
of Afghan lumpens who are up to no good. She not
only provides the much needed glamour quotient
in the film, which is so full of rustic men (and
also adds to the international casting that the
film claims as its USP) but also acts as a necessary
catalyst at major junctures in the plot; she is
not just an eye candy. Thankfully, no clichéd
love angle is attempted and the story moves forward
like an arrow. Through several plot twists and
reversal of fortunes the viewers hitch a ride
along with the motley crowd and share in their
experiences and emotional turmoil and gradual
bonding.
 The
Pakistani Talib not only hijacks the jeep, but
also hijacks the main story of the two journalists
on the lookout for Talibans but we don’t
mind. We don’t bother if the two Indians
really get to meet the actual Talibans. The stated
goal of the two Indian protagonists loses its
relevance after a certain point and the conflict
represented by the antagonist Imran Khan Afridi
and the hostile landscape becomes the setting
for a larger drama that spews forth issues and
concerns, which become more significant than the
fulfillment of the objective of the film. The
deadly conflict between the hijacker and the hijacked
becomes humane and humorous as the story progresses
and the antagonist changes shades and begins to
gain the sympathy of the viewers and the other
characters, except the Afghan driver (Hanif Hum
Ghum) who keeps on harping against him till the
end and wants him dead. This is where the film
/ screenplay falters; despite the roundedness
of the character of the Afghan driver, he is never
redeemed and looses our sympathy. But till that
time we are hooked on to the story of Imran Khan
Afridi, actually a member of the Pakistani Army
and his tragic betrayal by the Pakistani army
who had sent him to fight the war in Afghanistan
along with others but has no need of him now that
Pakistan has become an American ally, his memories
of his daughter who was married off and has to
keep hijab, and whom he meets for a fleeting moment
at a remote Afghan village. It is a very poignant
moment in the film and for the few seconds when
she removes her veil and exposes her face to her
father, whom she knows she will never meet again,
freezes in our mind.
There are several other moments like that in
the film; when Pepsi cans come raining down from
a truck hit by US planes the night before; or
when the John Abraham character, doing push-ups,
asks a young boy if he too wants to do the same
and the boy is revealed to be lame, a victim of
the mindless war that has ravaged his land from
much before his birth; or the argument between
Imran Khan Afridi and Jai the Indian cameraman
about who is a better all-rounder – Imran
Khan or Kapil Dev; or the number of times that
Imran Khan bumps cigarettes off Jai, or when all
of them sing a Mohammad Rafi song ( Main Zindagi
ka Saath Nibha Gaya) as they drive along
the treacherous terrain… These are the moments
that lift the film and we realize that it is not
frequently that we experience such cinematic flashes.
Through these personal and tender moments we,
and the characters realize the futility of war
and Imran Khan Afridi is forced to look within
himself and wonder if everything that he ever
fought for so long, out of conviction and duty,
was really worth it after all.
The casting is cocksure, except for John Abraham
who is as wooden to the core as usual. It is left
to Arshad Warshi to salvage the situation through
witty lines throughout the film, but he never
eats up John and maintains his balance. Arshad
 today
is amongst the finest actors in our country and
proves it once again in this film. But a complaint
here the characterization of the two journalists
is far too sketchy and insufficiently developed;
we do feel the need for a little more information
about their backgrounds, apart from the fact that
they work for some Indian news channel. They remain
strictly functional and John’s performance
does not help the matter; though Arshad does manage
to compensate a little for it through his addiction
for smoking and love of Kapil Dev; it does add
a layer to his character. The international actors
are brilliant and perform their roles with a competence
that is praiseworthy, in particular Saman Shahid
who makes undoubtedly the biggest impact in the
film. Helped by the meatiest role in the film,
the actor delivers and how!
First time director Kabir Khan who happens to
be a well-known documentary filmmaker knows his
job. He knows the Afghan terrain well, having
already shot a documentary there in 2003 and he
gathers all his experiences to work up a screenplay
that is taut and witty without playing to the
exotica that a country like Afghanistan immediately
conjures up. He is ably assisted in his vision
by cameraman Anshuman Mahale who has captured
the landscape realistically without being indulgent
or pompous; his compositions do not overwhelm
us but are strictly relegated to the story-telling.
Amitabh Shukla’s quicksilver editing complements
the cameraman’s and director’s vision.
The background score also weaves in and out without
calling attention upon itself.
More such films from the stable that is called
Bollywood and it would really be time to say that
Bombay / Hindi cinema has arrived. Kabul Express
is not a brilliant film, but yes, it is a
good film that manages to stay entertaining without
being sensationalist. Therein lies its strength.
It is rare that a mainstream Indian film engages
in political deliberations but it does it with
a fine sense of balance, without either sugar
coating the issues or being pedagogical about
it. It is witty and dark, but entertaining as
well.
Ranjan Das is an alumnus of the Film
and Television Institute of India with specialization
in Film Editing. Having edited various documentaries
and directed different programmes for Bengali
Television, he has also written for the popular
TV serial Crime Patrol. He is today looking
to make his first Feature Film.
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