BHUJ: THE PRIDE OF INDIA is the story of an incredible chapter from the 1971 India Pakistan war. The persecution of East Pakistan residents by Pakistani military in 1971 leads to lakhs of deaths. Innumerable people migrate to India to
escape the killings.
Hence too gets involved in this conflict and deploys a majority of its troops on the Eastern border. Taking advantage of this situation, Pakistan begins to attack the defence base of India on the Western side. On December 8, 1971, Pakistan air force suddenly attacks Bhuj airbase, taking commanding officer Vijay Karnik (Ajay Devgn) and everyone else present by surprise. Several lives are lost in this attack and the airstrip is also badly damaged. Meanwhile, Pakistan also destroys Surajbari and Banaskatha bridges and five major roads that lead to Bhuj. As a result, Bhuj and Kutch are cut off from the rest of the country. The Indian air force aircrafts can't even land as the airstrip is destroyed and the engineers that can repair it have run away. The Pakistan army meanwhile has begun advancing towards Bhuj and plans to capture the whole region. The only solution in sight is to get the airstrip repaired overnight at any cost. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Ajay Devgn plays a one-dimensional character. But performance wise, he’s first-rate and lifts certain scenes. His slo-mo walk especially is quite exciting and would have led to a riot in cinemas. Sanjay Dutt, too, plays a character whose back story is not properly explained but he is quite good, especially in the fight scenes. Sonakshi Sinha has a late entry but is the surprise of the film. Nora Fatehi charms with her performance and action. Her action scene is one of the highlights. Sharad Kelkar (R K Nair) is, as always, dependable. Ammy Virk (Vikram Singh Baj) is decent and gives his best. Pranitha Subhash (Usha), Ihana Dhillon (R K Nair’s wife) and Mahesh Shetty (Laxman) get no scope. Navni Parihar (Indira Gandhi) is fair. The actors playing General Yahya Khan, Heena Rehmani’s husband Md Hussain Omani, Wing Commander A A Sahu, Mukhtar Baig and Taimoor Rizvi are okay.
Music is okay and there’s not much scope for songs. In fact, a few songs like 'Rammo Rammo', 'Bhai Bhai' and even the famous 'Zaalima Coca Cola' tracks are missing. 'Hanjugam' is forgettable but 'Desh Mere' is touching. The devotional song of Sonakshi Sinha ('He Ishwar Maalik He Daata') is powerful but looks a bit out of place. Amar Mohile's background score is exhilarating.
On the whole, BHUJ: THE PRIDE OF INDIA tells an incredible story from a chapter of Indian history. The performances are first-rate and the film goes on an exciting level in the second half, with the nail-biting climax being the best part of the enterprise. A film of this scale should have been released in cinemas as it’s full of massy scenes that would have generated immense craze among the audiences.
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