Bhuj: The Pride of India Movie Review: On 15th August this year we will celebrate the 75th Independence Day and in such a situation two Bollywood films full of patriotic spirit have been released. Karan Johar’s Dharma Production’s ‘Shershaah’ has been released a day ago on Amazon Prime and shortly after that Ajay Devgn’s production’s multi-starrer film ‘Bhuj: The Pride of India’ released on Disney Hotstar Plus. The film narrates the failed attempt of Pakistan to annex India’s Kutch in 1971. This story not only shows the story of the army, but also the courage and bravery of the citizens. How is this movie after all?
Story: During the 1971 war, the Pakistani army attacked and completely destroyed the Bhuj airbase of the Indian Air Force. Not only this, in order to capture Kutch, Pakistan had also ruined all the roads connecting Kutch with India. In such a situation, 300 women of Madhapur, a village in Bhuj, had put their lives at stake, to rebuild the airstrip of this Air Force base in just 72 hours. These women were prepared by Squadron leader Vijay Karnik (Ajay Devgan) to help him. This is a war story that will fill your heart with a sense of pride.
Director Abhishek Dudhaiya’s film ‘Bhuj’ is a multi-starrer film, in which there are many stars from Sanjay Dutt to Sharad Kelkar and Sonakshi Sinha, but this film is completely made keeping Ajay Devgan in focus. He is hero and that’s clear. It has been told in the beginning of the film that even though it is a film based on true events, it has taken ‘freedom in script writing on the basis of entertainment’.
The story itself begins with the dialogue showing the intentions of the government of Pakistan and the attack of the Pakistani army on the Bhuj airbase. Unaware of this air attack, Indian Air Force personnel suddenly run to save their lives and some get involved in the fight. In the first half, the story is explained through voice over for a long time, which is unable to create a connection.
Actually, the biggest drawback in this film is the reality. From the sets to the dialogues of the characters, everything looks fake and artificial. Making a film related to the army does not mean that you are not a soldier until you give a speech full of patriotism, which can be seen clearly in this film. There is a lot of patriotic dialogues from all around. Nora Fatehi’s sequence looks very artificial.
But even in the midst of all this, it cannot be denied that Ajay Devgan and Sharad Kelkar have shone in their characters. Sharad Kelkar has looked quite original and appealing. At the same time, there are heavy dialogues in the part of the rest of the characters, which they have spoken in the same style.
There are many events happening simultaneously in the story, and that is why many times voice-over has been used to explain the characters and events. This is the reason why you have to constantly keep understanding what is going on. Although the second half of the film is good, in which the real fight and real events are clearly visible. The biggest drawback of this film is that it is a ‘masala film’ inspired by a true incident, in which the real story is less and the masala has dominated. The wave of patriotism is going on very loudly in the country at this time and in such a situation, Bollywood also does not lag behind in cashing it. ‘Bhuj’ is also an attempt like this, just the reality in this masala action drama is so low that you can’t even feel ‘proud’.
If you want to see a story full of patriotism on the occasion of this Independence Day, then you must watch this film. Also, the story of the spirit of 300 women during the 1971 war must be seen, this story of the bravery of the army. Yes, if this story had not been made keeping only entertainment in mind and tried to create some connection in it, then it could have been a great film. 2.5 stars to this film from our side.
