Terrorism seems to be the latest flavour of the season in Bollywood with as many as half dozen films hitting the screens this year that includes films such Black & White, Aamir, Contract and Mission Istanbul.
Terrorism is easily identified with by people all over the world. In India, terrorism surfaced in the early 1980s in the Jammu and Kashmir region, in Punjab and the emergence of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in the northeastern state of Assam.
But it was only a decade later when filmmakers decided to tackle this subject after the Lankan militant outfit of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) became a national terror having assassinated the then Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi.
With the advent of 21st century, international terrorism arrived on the scene with the 9/11 attacks in the US with India also bearing the brunt of these vicious acts.
The recent Bollywood releases, Hijack, A Wednesday and Tahaan deal with various faces of terrorism. Moreover, Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan’s next film, My Name Is Khan also deals with the same subject.
In the wake of the recent bombings in the Indian capital and various major cities, we decided to check out the top ten Bollywood films to be made on the subject in the last couple of decades:
Roja (1992)
Originally a Tamil film, it was later dubbed in Hindi and took the nation by storm by becoming the first mainstream Indian film to aesthetically tackle terrorism in troubled valley of Kashmir.
Ironically, it took a South Indian director (Mani Ratnam) to probe into a burning North Indian issue. The film juxtaposes a love story with terrorism.
Roja’s (Madhoo) struggle to have her husband (Arvind Swamy) released from militant Kashmiri separatists, who demanded the release of their terrorist leader, has been beautifully portrayed.
A.R. Rahman made his debut with this film’s memorable soundtrack. The film was recently re-released for international audiences in light of the growing fear of terrorist attacks globally.
Drohkaal (1994)
A film by Govind Nihalani, it scans the psychological trauma that honest police officers face in an undercover operation when trying to infiltrate a group of terrorists.
While Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah pitched in terrific performances as honest cops, Ashish Vidhyarthi stole the show in a National Award winning role as a cold-blooded terrorist.
Maachis (1996)
The film depicts the circumstances surrounding the rise of the Sikh insurgency in Punjab after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and captures the transformation of a law abiding young man into a dreaded terrorist. Gulzar extracted some superb performances from debutant Chandrachur Singh and Tabu, who won the National Award for Best Actress. This film was was a critical and commercial success.
Dil Se (1998)
With this film Mani Ratnam probed the terrorism in the North-Eastern region of India. This was Ratnam’s first Hindi film starring Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala in an obsessive love story set against the backdrop of a kamakaze attack during the 50th anniversary celebration of Indian independence.
Its unconventional ending shocked the audience but over a period of time, this film has become a classic and in fact it is one of Shah Rukh’s best films. Rahman came up with a haunting musical score.
The Terrorist (1998)
Originally a Tamil film based on the assassination of ex-Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE, the film predominantly dealt with the mental trauma of a 19-year old female suicide bomber played effectively by Ayesha Dharkar. Cinematographer-turned-director Santosh Sivan won international acclaim for this film giving us an insight into the psyche of a terrorist. So far, this is the best ever Indian film to emerge on the subject of terrorism.
Mission Kasmir (2000)
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s film on terrorism in Kashmir pits Sanjay Dutt as a law abiding Muslim police officer against Hrithik Roshan, an innocent young man caught in a web.
The film drew mixed reaction but was successful in portraying children suffering from trauma due to the insurgency in Kashmir.
Yahaan (2004)
A sweet tale of love between a Kashmiri girl (Minissha Lamba) and Indian army officer (Jimmy Sheirgill) against the backdrop of terrorism in Kashmir.
Some sequences in the film proved heart-warmingly real. The film marked an impressive debut of ad maker-turned-director Shoojit Sircar and Minissha Lamba.
Black Friday (2007)
Directed by Anurag Kashyap, this is one of the most riveting films to ever hit the Indian screens. The film traces the events that led to the infamous 1993 Mumbai blasts and probably the fact that this was just the beginning of international terrorism seeping into India.
Critics have hailed this film as one of the best things to happen to Indian cinema and it has also won international acclaim for an honest portrayal of events.
Aamir (2008)
A thriller, it depicts the plights of innocent Indian Muslims trapped within the framework of extremists and radicals who don’t hesitate to carry out attacks in the name of religion.
Debutant director Rajkumar Gupta presents a film with a tight screenplay while small screen-turned-big screen actor, Rajeev Khandelwal came up with a nerve-wrecking performance to hold the audience on the edge-of-its seats.
Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008)
One of the best films of the year, it relives the horrors of blasts in a Mumbai train on July 11, 2006. The film captures the after-effects of an attack rather than dwindling on the actual terrorism activities.
Director Nishikant Kamat realistically depicts the ordeals of common people at such times. Terrific performances by Paresh Rawal, Madhavan, Irrfan Khan, Kay Kay Menon and Soha Ali Khan made this film a must-watch.
Abdulla Mahmood is a UAE-based freelance writer
