Sikandar Movie Reviews

Kashmir is changing and so is the cinema around it. Of course, you do have mandatory militants, the army, peace battering politicos, religious heads in a small town of J&K, but you also have fourteen-year-old Sikandar Raza. ‘Sikandar’ is a refreshing break on the endemic Kashmir problem but seen through the eyes of two teenagers torn between innocence and violence. We have had a similar theme in the lyrical Santosh Sivan's ‘Tahaan’ before, but ‘Sikandar’ is racy

The film opens with a bang as writer-director Piyush Jha moves away from comedy (he earlier made Chalo America and The King of Bollywood) towards a dramatic thriller. Set in conflict-torn Kashmir, 14-year-old Sikandar (Parzaan Dastur) is a football-obsessed orphan whose life changes when he finds a gun. He is befriended by Nasreen (Ayesha Kapur), a young girl, who becomes his guide and confidant even as the gun becomes an inextricable part

Right after a blast in the Valley, one Mukhtar Mattoo (Sanjay Suri), modeled mysteriously on Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the current head of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, and a relatively moderate separatist leader, stands by a Lt Colonel (Madhavan). The Colonel examines a decapitated finger at the site. They share rhetoric on peace and cease-fire. Another blast, and the Mirwaiz (I mean Mukhtar), is there again, making the same personal chit-chat about eye-for-an-eye.

Sikandar, written and directed by Piyush Jha, is intended as a poignant drama about the lost innocence of children in Kashmir. Despite its best efforts though, the film doesn't quite work because of a rickety screenplay that leaves you with too many questions unanswered. Parzaan Dastur stars as 14-year-old Sikandar, a football-obsessed Muslim kid whose parents were killed by militants in the Valley, and who lives with his uncle and aunt in the Kashmiri countryside now.

It's a lure tugging straight at the alpha male's heart. You don't have to be a Kashmiri schoolboy to be thrilled at the sight of a discarded pistol (a Beretta, no less) at the side of the road is, and even if you don't do anything much with it, one is tempted to at least, well, strike a couple of action hero poses. And this is what little Sikandar (Parzaan Dastur) does as well in Piyush Jha's new film. Fixated by the sight of the gun, he dhishkaos with his mouth and draws a bead on trees

A small, non-Bollywood film with its heart in the right place, Sikandar is a decent attempt which makes for pleasant viewing. Set in the troubled valley of Kashmir, Sikandar examines the volatile interplay between militant terrorists, religious clergy and armed forces, through the eyes of a teenage boy. The film starts with beautiful shots of mist rolling in over mountains through a valley, children playing in lush green fields, a busy marketplace filled

Militancy-hit Kashmir has a new film to reckon with. Happily, Sikandar has two engaging child actors playing the lead. Parzan plays young Kashmiri boy Sikandar, who on the way back home from school, finds a gun by the roadside. His friend Nasreen (Ayesha Kapoor) advises him to leave the gun alone. Sikandar sneaks the gun into his schoolbag anyway, to intimidate school bullies. Soon the gun and everything it represents, spins straight out of Sikandar's hand.

There have been path-breaking films on the plight of children. Children affected by poverty/conflict. Films like THE CHILDREN OF HEAVEN, TURTLES CAN FLY and CITY OF GOD have left an indelible impression on millions of minds. These films, says director Piyush Jha, have also been his inspiration. Jha's SIKANDAR looks at the conflict in Kashmir, without taking sides. That's because the focus is on a kid who becomes a pawn in a dangerous game played by politicians and terrorists.