Kabul Express
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: John Abraham, Arshad Wari, Salman Shahid
Hindi, Darri, English (subtitled)
Most people's perceptions of Indian cinema are the gaudy, melodramatic musicals of Bollywood or the cinema verite of Satyajit Ray. And to be fair that is a pretty accurate view. Sure there are historical and religious films, or action-packed dramas but they invariable feature song and dance routines because that is what the punters want. Ray's works are more appreciated outside of his homeland, where the lack of colour and spectacle are of little interest to audiences. Cinema is their escape from the everyday life portrayed in Ray's films.
Over the last decade India's place in the world has grown significantly. There is also a new generation of Indian filmmakers who were born or raised outside of their cultural homeland, who are making movies of much broader appeal, M. Night Shyamalan being the most successful, but there are others like Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding), Asif Kapadia (The Warrior) and Deepa Mehta (Water) have also created films that use their cultural heritage and settings to tell powerful and dramatic stories. With a huge population of NRIs (Non Resident Indians) brought up on both Bollywood and Hollywood, the market for straight drama in Hindi is growing.
Kabul Express is one of this new wave of Indian cinema. Produced by Yash Raj Films, the largest and most successful studio in India, it is a drama based on actual events that was shot on location in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, which is central to the film's story.
Two Indian TV journalists, Jai (Arshad Warsi), the cameraman, and Suhel (John Abraham – who also appeared in Water), are in Afghanistan trying to get the big, career-building story by interviewing the fleeing Taliban. With the help of their guide, Khyber (Hanif Hum Ghum), an Afghani who drives the titular Toyota 4x4, they find some Taliban, but it all goes wrong and they end up being captured by one of them, Imran (Salman Shahid), who wants to be taken over the border to Pakistan. Along the way they are joined by an American photojournalist, Jessica Beckham (Linda Arsenio).
Essentially it is a road movie, set over 48-hour period, but it manages to incorporate many themes with a strong message. Its view of the Afghani/Taliban situation is never judgemental nor particularly biased, and while there are some scenes of quite brutal violence against the Taliban it is counteracted with some well-conceived comedic scenes that never become flippant. The switching between heavy action drama and levity holds your interest, and the overall message that we are all essentially the same is handled well without falling into sentimentality or melodrama.
The cinematography is stunning and captures the rugged beauty of the land as well as the ravages of decades of war. The acting is good, for the most part, and the actors use their native tongues (Hindi, Darri, English), further adding to the authenticity of the piece. The biggest let down is the American actress who seems unable to deliver any of the lines with conviction, which isn't the fault of the script. There are a few other little things that niggle, but these are what the Italians call "deformazione professsionale", where you notice inaccuracies according to your work. For example, in the opening shot the two journalists throw their backpacks onto the ground from the helicopter. We then see Jai with his big Sony DigiBeta camera under his arm. Throwing such a delicate piece of equipment from a great height, even if it was in a flightcase, is not a good idea. Throughout the film he never changed tapes or batteries, or even attempted to recharge them. Similarly things happen with the photojournalist. Small points I know, and although they tend to spoil the realism they don't detract from an otherwise cracking adventure filled with both laughter and tears.
Kabul Express is showing on Thursday November 2 at the Odeon West End as part of The Times BFI London Film Festival.
Cast: John Abraham, Arshad Wari, Salman Shahid
Hindi, Darri, English (subtitled)
Most people's perceptions of Indian cinema are the gaudy, melodramatic musicals of Bollywood or the cinema verite of Satyajit Ray. And to be fair that is a pretty accurate view. Sure there are historical and religious films, or action-packed dramas but they invariable feature song and dance routines because that is what the punters want. Ray's works are more appreciated outside of his homeland, where the lack of colour and spectacle are of little interest to audiences. Cinema is their escape from the everyday life portrayed in Ray's films.
Over the last decade India's place in the world has grown significantly. There is also a new generation of Indian filmmakers who were born or raised outside of their cultural homeland, who are making movies of much broader appeal, M. Night Shyamalan being the most successful, but there are others like Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding), Asif Kapadia (The Warrior) and Deepa Mehta (Water) have also created films that use their cultural heritage and settings to tell powerful and dramatic stories. With a huge population of NRIs (Non Resident Indians) brought up on both Bollywood and Hollywood, the market for straight drama in Hindi is growing.
Kabul Express is one of this new wave of Indian cinema. Produced by Yash Raj Films, the largest and most successful studio in India, it is a drama based on actual events that was shot on location in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, which is central to the film's story.
Two Indian TV journalists, Jai (Arshad Warsi), the cameraman, and Suhel (John Abraham – who also appeared in Water), are in Afghanistan trying to get the big, career-building story by interviewing the fleeing Taliban. With the help of their guide, Khyber (Hanif Hum Ghum), an Afghani who drives the titular Toyota 4x4, they find some Taliban, but it all goes wrong and they end up being captured by one of them, Imran (Salman Shahid), who wants to be taken over the border to Pakistan. Along the way they are joined by an American photojournalist, Jessica Beckham (Linda Arsenio).
Essentially it is a road movie, set over 48-hour period, but it manages to incorporate many themes with a strong message. Its view of the Afghani/Taliban situation is never judgemental nor particularly biased, and while there are some scenes of quite brutal violence against the Taliban it is counteracted with some well-conceived comedic scenes that never become flippant. The switching between heavy action drama and levity holds your interest, and the overall message that we are all essentially the same is handled well without falling into sentimentality or melodrama.
The cinematography is stunning and captures the rugged beauty of the land as well as the ravages of decades of war. The acting is good, for the most part, and the actors use their native tongues (Hindi, Darri, English), further adding to the authenticity of the piece. The biggest let down is the American actress who seems unable to deliver any of the lines with conviction, which isn't the fault of the script. There are a few other little things that niggle, but these are what the Italians call "deformazione professsionale", where you notice inaccuracies according to your work. For example, in the opening shot the two journalists throw their backpacks onto the ground from the helicopter. We then see Jai with his big Sony DigiBeta camera under his arm. Throwing such a delicate piece of equipment from a great height, even if it was in a flightcase, is not a good idea. Throughout the film he never changed tapes or batteries, or even attempted to recharge them. Similarly things happen with the photojournalist. Small points I know, and although they tend to spoil the realism they don't detract from an otherwise cracking adventure filled with both laughter and tears.
Kabul Express is showing on Thursday November 2 at the Odeon West End as part of The Times BFI London Film Festival.
posted by Chris Patmore at 4:44 PM
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