Yahaan - Review

The caption below this photograph, which appeared in The Hindu, dated 26th Dec 2005, read – Children watching a gun battle between security forces and militants holed up in a house in a residential locality in Bemina area in Srinagar on Sunday.

The gun battle resulted in the death of a top militant of Al-Badr.

I was awestruck to see that the children’s eyes reflected curiosity, not fear or pain or irritation. Guns, explosions and violence has become a part and parcel of their lives, its something which they would have been hearing right from the days in memory. Having been brought up in peaceful cities and towns, I cannot comprehend the lives of these innocent children.

This picture reminded me of the movie Yahaan. Directed by Shoojit Sircar, the movie follows the life of an Army officer, who falls for a Kashmiri muslim.


Spoiler Warning: The entire movie, with all major subplots discussed below.

Jimmy Shergill stars as an idealistic army officer, Aman, who follows the rules and even goes to the extend of standing up to his superiors when they acted unjustly. During on of his patrol missions, he happens to meet a beautiful Kashmiri girl, Adaa (Played by newcomer Minissha Lamba).

Love blossoms at first sight, and in the due course of time they become inseparable. Opposition comes in the form of the society, which would never allow a Kashmiri girl to marry an outsider. Aman is both an outsider as well as an army officer, which meets with very stiff resistance, especially from Adaa’s elder brother Shakeel, who is pawn in the hands of the ISI. Shakeel, who initially practiced non-violent methods to pursue Kashmir’s independence, took to violent ways after being misled by the ISI.

Then there is Aman’s superior, who having suffered the shame of being rebuked by a subordinate was looking for a chance to get even with Aman. Adaa’s father too is against the relationship, since he wants to get his daughter married to a Muslim of his choice. Adaa and Aman find some encouragement in Adaa’s grandmother, who having seen the pains of staying in Kashmir, wants Adaa to escape and live in peace, away from the world of violence and fear.

Aman is captured by the militants during one of his missions, by Shakeel. Adaa is heartbroken after hearing the news and sets out in search of him. She reaches her brothers hideout in time to prevent Shakeel from killing Aman, and in the resulting confusion both lovers manage to escape alive. Later the army storms the place, and rescues the other prisoners.

Aman’s superior, who was unable to locate him after the incident, labels him a traitor and orders that he be captured. After being captured, Aman is about to be court-martialed. Adaa is prevented from appearing as a witness by Aman’s superior. Adaa runs from post to post, trying to get justice for her lover. She is supported by a private television channel, which airs her woes to the country.

The Prime Minister’s Office, after listening to the televised program, initiates action and Aman is freed of all charges against him. Meanwhile, hard cored militants, who want to prevent the marriage of Aman and Adaa as well as free their comrades who were the prisoners of the Indian army, attack Adaa’s relatives by exploding a bomb in their house. They also take as few hostages, and hole up in a mosque.

Finally there is a confrontation between Shakeel and Aman. Aman makes Shakeel realize the error in his judgment in taking up arms for the freedom struggle. Finally, all’s well that end’s well, and the lovers are united, bringing a new hope to Kashmiris.

I liked the movie for its simple story line, the good performances by the cast. The camerawork made it look realistic. The shootout sequences looked pretty real. Adaa’s innocence was touching. Her dialogues like “Atleast someone in the valley is laughing” and her dialogues with Aman, where she enquires about his home and locality was done well.

A word for Jimmy Shergill - his performance in this movie is by far the best I have seen of him.