MovieMashup

Haqeeqat (1964) is based on the indo-china war of 1962, mainly focused on the battle of Rezand la in Ladakh. Directed by Chetan Anand. This is considered the greatest war movie ever made. How a recently independent country like India, which was financially weak and struggling to make decisions, forced the outnumbered and injured Indian soldiers to retreat. Someone needs to stop the Chinese army and give time to the injured Indian soldiers to retreat. Dharmendra and his fellow soldiers decided to fight. It is all about their bravery and sacrifices. Balraj Sahni, the legendary actor, played Major Ranjit Singh. His helplessness, awaiting the whole time for further orders and reinforcement is very painful for Indians to watch. This movie elevates the morale of the Indian armed forces at the time of grief.

This was the first movie to be shot in Ladakh. Some artists Including Director Chetan Anand, Balraj Sahni, and many others didn’t charge any money. In the song “Ab tumhare hawale watan sathiyo”, The immortal voice of Mohammad Rafi and great lines written by Kaifi Azmi still make every Indian weep. The audience used to stay seated in their seats with grief after the movie ends. After many decades Haqeeqat stands tall with its great depiction of the war and the shadow it left behind.

A must-watch.

Achanak 1973
On Gulzar’s birthday we will talk about Achanak, directed by the legend himself. He is most popular as a poet, but he also directed dozens of movies. His movies always showcase the human relationships and ask very difficult questions for the society, for groups, for individuals. The way he tells his stories is always a treat for a movie lover. Sadly, in today’s generation, only a few people explore these movies. Whether you agree or not, the director Gulzar is always under the shadow of the Grammy and the Oscar winner, Lyricist Gulzar. 

Today we will talk about Achanak, a movie by Gulzar with no songs. Achanak is a story of an army officer, played by Vinod Khanna, who found his wife cheated on him with his best friend. He then killed both and surrendered. He was given a death sentence but story turns when he ran away from police custody. He gets himself shot in his chest and ultimately ends up in a hospital with no chance of recovery. But he recovers. The question is, for what? to be executed by the law. How this justifies the hard work of doctors and nurses do to bring back someone from death to be executed shortly by the law. It also asked that we trained army officer to kill, we awarded them on how ruthlessly they kill the enemy or how many they kill, but why does it change, when the officer kills his own enemies by using those skills? Can a good man be a criminal or vice versa? is it really needed to do your duty for the sake of the duty? Is it any kind of social paradox whether you do your work or decide to resign but ultimately you can’t solve the issues? This movie left us with such many difficult questions to think about.  

Mainly the story told through flashbacks. With only 90 minutes ruining time, the story is very focused on its main plot. Vinod Khanna, Om shiv puri, Asrani, Lily Chakraborty, Farida Jalal and Iftekhar everyone plays their characters really well. The movie is based on the story written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. If you want to explore Gulzar, the director, I will recommend you to watch Achanak.