Many of these movie reviews are from the RAMLI newsgroup

Fax Eros at 0181 963 0154 if you feel strongly about the last two songs in Border being chopped in half.

I finally saw 'Border' and have to admit it was not my type of movie. It frankly bored me to death (it is a wonder I am still alive!!). I don't think the film was well made, I didn't feel much sympathy with the actors, except for the character played by Akshay Khanna, and that came at the very end . They characters all showed an unhealthy obsession with the 'Ma' or their country India, and didn't tolerate any negative comments about her. So much for the Army being a pillar of democray. They went particularly over the top with their patriotism, sure love your country but don't ram it down everyones throat. To be honest I am not very patriotic and find it difficult to understand the characters sentiment, considering that they were (and are) paid trained killers. Are all soldiers really like that??
The film also neglected to point out that the war was between India and Pakistan, not Hindu and Sikhs verses Muslims. I am sure that there were Muslims fighting the Pakistanis and much as there may have been Hindus fighting against India. Sure, feeble attempts were made to show the supposedly secular character of the film, but they weren't successful.
The film did display alot of anti-Pakistani bias, but I didn't think that the Koran scene was offensive. The portrayal of the Pakistani army gave more grounds for offense. The film seemed confused, first it went on about how wonderful it was to die for your country (prompting thoughts of Wilfred Owen), but at the end it attempted to argue the futility of war. So which is it??
The female actresses may as well not be there, blink and they disappeared. The songs were not too bad, I really enjoyed the 'Ke Ghar Kab..' 'Border' was disappointing, I should have watched Gupt instead!!...Shazia Khan

Border is still playing to packed houses all over India and overseas and may well become the biggest blockbuster of all time. Ironically having to settle for a front seat one gets to see so much more detail ! Has anybody else noted this effect ? This movie really gets more impressive each time.
There are many Pakistanis who come to see and enjoy the views of Punjab village life , Rajasthan palaces etc. The 71 war was not Pakistan’s fault in the sense that it was a military dictatorship which declared war and not an elected parliament . There was even a scene where the Pakistani troops are shown getting letters from home but since they look so much like Indian Punjabis one mistakenly thinks it is Indians !
It is of course a fictionalised account and not real footage from the war so all the ‘villains’ including the Pakistani tank commander are really Indian actors and the tanks blown up are all Indian ! and the viewers have enough sense to know that. Once again the distributors should be condemned for cutting out the bayonet scenes and the Sanskrit prayer for peace and the commentary in the long song , which has turned this an anti war movie into one glorifying it a bit. Hopefully in India they are seeing the complete version . If they restored these songs in full and instead cut out the one involving the Quran it would satisfy those who have objected to these and free this very good movie from controversy .I would urge all those who still want to see this movie to listen to the two songs - Hindustan meri aan and Mere Dushman mere Bhai on a cassette and if they do not hear the complete version to protest vigorously. As somebody else mentioned India should lift all restricitons on Pakistani films and magazines from entering India - if one wants peace one must be able to hear what the other side has to say. In the West people can read mags and see films from both sides and nobody comes to any harm...Mo

I personally didn't enjoy this movie all that much, if only for personal reasons. Being half-Pakistani, I still couldn't help but feel like a traitor sitting in the cinema watching the "evil" Pakistani "villians" getting blown up on the screen. It was a bit of a tense film and I really don't understand why the director decided to tackle with this issue at this particular point in time (whereas BOMBAY was more relevent to the times). Nonetheless, from a production point of view, I think the film is a good one. Atleast it's something different and hopefully more thought-provoking than your average masala film.

The first half of this film is pretty slow and boring, but it picks up later on. The photography, songs, action sequences, and overall direction is good. The performances are terrific also. Sunny Deol makes the perfect commander/officer type. I can also say for the first time that I liked Sunil Shetty! I've never liked him in a single film until this one. There's nothing special about his acting, but he fits the role of a soldier. I don't know what else to say except that he was really cool. (I can't believe I'm saying something good about this guy!) But the real surprise package of the film was... Akshaye Khanna! This was the 2nd surprise for me in this film (the first one being that I enjoyed Sunil Shetty's performance). I admit that I'm usually quite hesitant to accept newcomers and I'm especially very hesitant/cynical of star sons, but I must say that this fellow shows a lot of promise. I feel he actually stole the show from the veteran actors. I don't think he has the strong presence to be a one-man show (yet), but I think he could make an excellent side/supporting actor.

Those are all my comments for now, - Sadat

I am glad everyone on the net enjoyed BORDER, as much as I did. We must not forget that the true spirit and patriotism in BORDER will be lost if some genius like ARYAN, who used that opportunity to spread his personal philosophy of punjabi supremacy, and we start fighting amongst overselves, just like everything else on the internet. Being a malayali, hence an indian, I felt proud of my desh when I saw BORDER, because it demonstrated how we, as Indians, united to defend our territory.
We must learn from the soul-stirring speeches made by Sunil Shetty and Sunny Deol in BORDER and stand by one another. Just my 2 cents, I mean paise... Nayar

Yes, the whole film is on one of the battles of the '71 war. I saw it in the theatre last weekend. I thought it was a very well made and enjoyable movie. Of course, like all war movies, it was from a single point of view. I am old enough to remember that war, and I saw fundamental inaccuracies in the movie. But then, which hindi movie is all that accurate ...?! By the way, I am one of the "Pakistani contributers", in case that was not obvious from the post!... Lisa Bashir

The major weakness of the movie is its inability to completely develop ALL its characters. The movie has "a lot of" characters - but none of them are aptly developed by the script. Almost every character seems incomplete .... so much so that towards the end of the movie the sympathy that you should feel for the different characters doesn't quite reach a significant level.
The main character of the movie - Kuldeep Singh - is played by Sunny Deol. He does a competent job at most times. But his acting prowess doesn't flower as it has in the past under the able direction of Raj Kumar Santoshi. For some reason J. P. Dutta is not able to completely rid Sunny of his natural stiffness. This results in Kuldeep Singh spending the majority of the movie yelling - without the desired affect. The character that Dutta spends the most time developing is that of DharamVeer played very aptly by Akshaye Khanna. This one is the easiest character to build sympathy for - what with the lonely blind mother (Rakhee), and the waiting sweetheart (Pooja Bhatt). And to a certain extent he succeeds. But not to an extent that would have been possible with more exploration of the consequences of his fate on Rakhee and Pooja Bhatt.
Sunil Shetty's Bhairon Singh is loosely based on Mithun's character from Ghulami (remember "Koi Shaq?"). But he doesn't carry the role quite as gracefully as Mithun managed to do in Ghulami. His face lacks the emotions he is trying to portray - and at times he even begins to look comical. But you can't blame him for trying hard - unlike he has ever done in any other movie. Jackie Shroff plays what ends up being the pivotal character at the end of the movie. But Dutta simply lacks the technical resources to film a realistic air-to-surface battle. So what should have been a stand-up and start clapping kinda scene - looks poor and doesn't have quite that affect. The final battle scene is reasonably realistic - but it is quite apparent that resources were just not available to shoot some of the scenes - especially when you notice that the same tank is shown as being blown up from different cameras - to imply that different tanks are being blown up. Also the same scene is shown repeatedly to indicate the fighter planes firing at the tanks.
But, in spite of all this, the movie is a welcome change. It is gutsy enough to tackle a controversial topic. But it never makes it clear what aspect of the story is real and what is fiction. The other thing is that for somebody who has no idea of why the war was being fought - no explanation is provided. the film could have provided a little insight into the backdrop for the war - what lead up to it etc? But Hindi movies seem scared to tackle real history. I wonder why? One of the strongest aspects of the movie is its awesome lyrics by Javed Akhtar and for a change some GOOD original music by Anu Malik. The songs "Ke Ghar Kab Aaoge" and "Mere Dushman Mere Bhai" are worded splendidly. - devashish saxena.

I heard great reviews about the movie. However, the movie simply failed to live up to its expectations. I just can't believe how can people overlook such obvious matters.
1) Akhsaye Khanna - Being selected the leader for his regiment. In the later reels, u see him being confused on the battlefield. Is that how the leader acts in a war. Sunny Deol reminds him to think of his father on two separate occasions b4 he come to his senses. How can any army make him a leader?
2) The two leader of the opposing armies shouting at each other in between a war. What a stupid scene?
3) Nothing great about the war scenes. It just looked ordinary. These type of movies r suppose to move u.
4) Nothing great about the acting. Someone said that Sunny Deol acted real well. He acts like that in almost any action movie. Watch him carefully.
In conclusion, a disappointment from J.P. Dutta. Hope the next few months bring good movies with it. ..Faisal

The heroic exploits of the 23rd Punjab at Longewala in 1971 are brought to life by Mr.Dutta in his continuing series of epic Rajasthan sagas. Against an entire Pakistani tank batallion the 120 jawans held their border post while enduring a terrifying night of warfare. Mr. Dutta's efforts are sincere and well-meaning but this time his direction falters and he barely manages to guide the movie to safety through his own threadbare script. The performances though cannot be faulted. Sunny, Sunil Shetty and Akhsaye Khanna all deliver powerhouse performances although it is Akshaye who easily outshines his two senior costars. This Himalayputra is gonna go places if he plays his cards right. Border's other highlights are its incredibly lilting music and songs capped by the soul-stirring "Ke ghar kab aoge" and "Mere dushman mere bhai"; the picturization of these songs is among the most moving in recent memory. Way to go Javed and (grudgingly) Anu.

I just got home from seeing Border and I must say that this movie is a must see ... it had everything ... made me laugh, cry ... angry ... covered all emotions and captured every feeling in my body ... cinematography was great ... I felt like I was in the middle of it all ... the music as most of you know was good ... but the movie was great ... also very good reviews from many others who have seen it .... overall ... an 11 out of 10 ... and not many movies can do that for me ... once again, I recommend it to anyone and everyone!... DJ Sapna

You have expressed the feelings most people have coming out of this movie very well. The last 15 minutes are the best ending ever I have seen in a Bollywood movie. Initially I was not keen on the sound track but after watching the movie and being able to image the songs , I think Javed Akhtar's lyrics are incredible! . The man is a genius . Has he won many awards ? Lets not forget what a fine job Sonu Nigam and others have done. Even the radio presenters when they put on 'Ghar kab aaoge' can hardly speak for a few minutes afterwards. Some people have picked fault - and negative comments are always more helpful - but the overall impact of this movie is so great that the images linger in memory long after. In Gulf , malaysia etc. they are sure to cut the best song - Hindustan , meri jaan - a pity really as it really stirs the emotions . Hope to see it again soon.

Absolutely brilliant movie!. The enjoyment was considerably enhanced by all the competing factions there . Loud cheers from the Sardars when Sunny Deol ( he has to win the best actor award for this one ) who plays Major Kuldeep Singh comes on the screen . Even louder cheers from the surpirisingly large numbers of Pakistanis when the Pakistani flag appears . When the Indian officer says India does not covet anybody's land -there were cries of 'Liar ( Jhoot)' from the Kashmiris who had come to disrupt the movie but soon became too engrossed.
Tabu is amazing-even though she is from the south she looks a pukka Punjaban here - wonder if there was any hanky panky in the previous generations , but its really Pooja Bhatt who steals the show amongst the female stars. Just watch her when she mimics the madman trying to... Akshay Khanna is outstanding but he needs a lot of Geeta like lectures to agree to warring fellow Punjabis from across the border.
Punjabis will be homesick on seeing the fields , houses , music in this movie. It is a true story from the 71 war at the Longewala border post in Rajasthan when a brave and audacious Pakistani officer stuck deep into Indian territory and threatened to take the city of Jaislmer which might have completely changed the complexion of the war but the PAF was unable to provide air cover.
Some comic scenes . Major Kuldeep who is short tempered as he is , is riled by his opposite Pakistani commander who tells him that his (Kuldip's ) wife is having an affair back in the village and Kuldeep swears at him and tells him he was born in 'Lahore da nala !'
Just when they have finished telling the background stories and one is willing the action to start - Sharbani Mukherjee and Sunil Shetty do an incredible beautiful and erotic number on the wedding night. All the big artillery , tanks , machine guns are genuine from the army and this together with the fact that it is based on a true story is what makes this such a fascinating learning movie.
Photography is outstanding. The Pakistani tanks going forward in columns with the infantry following behind reminds one of Elephants and infantry formations in ancient wars . The shot of an enormous setting sun -filling the whole screen and a distant bird flies across its face and then the flag of the two countries is framed in turn by the sun- you really have to see it -superb ! Javed Akhtar's lyrics are out of this world .
For once Bollywood has tried to be authentic . As it was the 23rd Punjab regiment there is a lot of Punjabi spoken and Punjabi war cries -the movie will be a megahit in the North and overseas but may not do so well in Bomaby or the south where Punjabi words are not so easily picked up. The air force officers of course speak English and the local Rajasthanis their own dialect.
One day the long opressed Asian cinema goers will rise up in a revolution against the distributors and operators who have treated them so cruelly, Never mind the ticket -$16 ! , the movie the radio said was to be 11pm but didnt start till 12.15 am ! It was good to see so many children there and all were riveted and I didnt see anyone go to sleep even at 3.15am when it finished. I really cant find any fault with this movie -except they MUST show the names of the playback singers who have such a big part in the success of a movie in the opening credits ! Hopefuly Bollywood will make an equally stirring movie of the Bangladesh war as well and have a big table with 3D relief so people can see where the action was -
Anybody who thinks war is fun and games should see this film and the brutal reality - how many gun shots and thrusts of bayonets it takes to kill a human being. It is an anti war movie really and thats the way it should always be...Mo

Hi there. I was the one who saw the pirated copied of Koyla, Myrityudata and Sapnay before the release on the big screen. Well out of the three, the Bachchan movie got my attention. I guess because of the pre hype. But now friends, the latest Sunny Deol/Sunil Shetty starrer BORDER tops my list so far in 1997. After I watched the movie, the first question I asked myself- "Akash, how come Indian directors can't make more movies like this?". BORDER was super. The combination of Rakhee and Jackie Shroff, along with new comer Akshaye Khanna and power house hitters Deol and Shetty made this movie possible. BORDER's back ground and vocal music is purely entertaining. Deol will win best actor. Watching BORDER reminds me of SHOLAY. The only difference is that in BORDER the hate between HINDU and MUSLIMS still exist. While SHOLAY is more of an action cowboy movie.
Akshaye Khanna really proved his point. In Himalayputra he was just another typical newcomer. But here in BORDER, he gives some very emotional scences. I don't want to let you guys know because I might ruin the whole movie for you guys. Once you watch BORDER, I'm pretty much sure you'll be satisfied.
THE MOVIE IS MEANT FOR THE BIG SCREEN "MERE DUSHMAN, MERE BHAI, MERE HAAMSSATHI"..Menandro E Javier

This movie has reportedly not done well in India . Not surprising with Virasat and Border beiong shown on most of the screens. 90% of all Bollywood movies are apparently flops not recovering the money for the distributors but they are more than happy as the other 10% blockbusters-like Border , RH and HAHK make up for the losses. Nearly all Bollywood movies have some good in them - a few good songs , comedy sketches etc. even if the story is a bit repititious. Shilpa dances the 'Tana.. ' one really well and should have been used in the opening night club one - she can electrify an audience with her movements. One good comedy scene is when she sets a big Sardar - a champion in Kushti on to Akshay . Fights are good and give Akshay a chance to show his Karate talents.

One pleasing trend is the increasing Indianization of Hindi movies . Earlier Urdu which is actually the same spoken language and Haryanavi were fairly common in Hindi movies but now Punjabi and Gujarati are also being increasingly used for extended periods -maybe to please the Bombay and NRI crowds where there are large immigrant sections from these areas - for whatever reason they lend a certain charm to Bollywood movies.
These movies are also proof that India is a free country -otherwise the two most powerful forces in any country-politicians and organised religion -Hinduism -would not be so regularly lampooned , made fun of and cast in villain roles !. That is the true hallmark of democracy -everybody trying to pull everybody else down ! -so that nobody becomes too powerful !!

. Paresh Rawal -remember his brilliant profermance as the cankaterous old man in Hero No. 1? - is the chief bad guy and him getting a head massage with great vigour is quite a funny scene. An entertaining film..Mo