Refugee, the Abhishek Bachchan debu movie, starts off from where Border stopped and continues with J.P Dutta's love-affair with the desert. It's a grand saga of human emotion, life, love (yawn), hope, sacrifice (yawn again) et cetera et cetera. A classic case of a strong theme not sufficiently backed by the script and let down badly by its actors.
On the one hand is the Indo-Pak tension and on the other is the story of a refugee in India and his lady love across the border. In the process the movie questions the Line of Control that is a a gash across unified India.
Suave Abhishek Bachchan as the rustic refugee was a mis-cast. He needs a more contemporary setting to prove his mettle. Kareena Kapoor fitted the bill of a pretty Muslim girl in Pakistan and the young lass looks promising. Jackie Shroff and Sunil Shetty as the border security for India and Pakistan respectively are nothing extraordinary. The guys who deserve mention are the ones with the cameos. Mukesh Tiwari, Ashish Vidhyarthi and Asif Zakari added just the right pitch the movie required.
Anu Malik's music comes nothing close to the work he did for 'Border'. Same goes for lyricist Javed Akhter. The dialogues were a let down too. J.P Dutta should have concentrated more on his characterisation and casting. He needs to get his act together once again. The Indian public is waiting.
Maheen Abdul
