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November 27, 1998
QUOTE MARTIAL
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When the tough get tediousSuparn Verma
The film is about ten soldiers under the leadership of Major Krishnakant Puri (Om Puri) who were court-martialled 17 years ago because they turned their back on the battlefield. One day Sandhya (Mamta Kulkarni) approaches Major Puri asking him to rescue her villagers from a dreaded terrorist, Jagira (Mukesh Tiwari).
The team reaches the village in a remote corner of India, where they see the terror wrought by Jagira and fight their internal battles. Let us start by discussing the film as an independent entity first, and talk about its inspirations later.
One wishes that Jagira would kill Mamta Kulkarni in the film because at least that way she wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of being in the lead and yet having the horses get more mileage than she does. Model-turned-actor Samir Soni, who makes his debut, should either get someone else to dub his dialogues or should have swapped roles with the mute man in the film to cover his weak voice and lack of acting skills.
On top of that he has three hours in which he also has to pay homage to Akira Kurosawa, trying to be different from Sholay and making his 10 characters appeal to the audience so that a tear is shed when at least one of them dies.
Other than the four characters we mentioned, none of the others hold the viewer's attention, actually helping to hinder the pace of the film. What really works against the film is that there is no new twist in the plot of the film. It may have been beautifully shot with some great art direction, but the editors slacked off time and again. The timing of events in the film is wrong. The scene in which Jagira kills a small child should have been in the first half, for it fails in the second half of the film.
Supposedly based on The Seven Samurai, the film lacks the power games involved in a Kurosawa film. Despite trying to show the ten soldiers planning and plotting, you find these ten men unable to execute a proper plan of action. The track Chamma Chamma, which has Urmila Matondkar making a 'sensational appearance' is really misplaced, and the choreography leaves a lot to be desired. The background track, though, is hummable.
Watching China-Gate isn't fun. On the contrary, it's an effort, as much as it was for the middle-aged characters in the film.
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