Director: Govind Nihalani; Writer: Govind P. Deshpande, Govind Nihalani, Anjum Rajabali, Atul Tiwari; Producer: Govind Nihalani; Cinematographer: Govind Nihalani, Malay Ray, Malay Roy; Editor: Dilip Panda; Cast: Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Mita Vasisht, Ashish Vidyarthi, Milind Gunaji, Annu Kapoor, Kitu Gidwani, Amrish Puri
Duration: 02:43:55; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 124.807; Saturation: 0.045; Lightness: 0.154; Volume: 0.151; Cuts per Minute: 8.357
Summary: Nihalani returned to his familiar 80s genre (cf.
Ardh Satya, 1983) of the fast-paced political
thriller with this story about terrorist
movements in Northern India. Abhay Singh
(O. Puri), the emotionally insecure head of an
elite anti-terrorist squad operating in a terrain
made to resemble 1980s/90s Kashmir, sends
two insurgents to infiltrate the terrorist group
led by Commander Bhadra (Vidyarthi). Bhadra
is captured and, for much of the film, matches
wits with Singh using knowledge provided to
him by his own informers within the police.
When Singh’s own senior officer (A. Puri)
commits suicide after being revealed as a
terrorist informer, Singh breaks down and turns
informer to save his wife (Vasisth) and child
from the all-pervasive terrorist menace. In the
end he kills Bhadra, and succeeds at the cost
ofhis own life in placing his own man (Gunaji)
at the head of the terrorist gang. The rapid
editing, extended use of close-up and tight
dramatic control - Nihalani’s hallmark -
dominate the long and tortuous story.
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