Heroes (2008 film)

Plot

Two film academy students, Ali (Vatsal Sheth) and Sameer (Sohail Khan), must make a movie in order to graduate. They choose to create a documentary illustrating reasons not to join the Indian Armed Forces, and go on a motorcycle road trip bearing three letters they have been given to deliver ��� each from a slain soldier to his family.

On their first stop, in Atari, Amritsar, they meet the widow, Kuljeet Kaur (Preity Zinta), and the son, Jassi, of a Sikh soldier, Balkar Singh (Salman Khan), who was Killed in action (KIA) three years earlier. The students find that the entire village is very proud of the heroic officer and his sacrifice for the country. When they are flying kites, their kite is cut and it falls beyond a certain fence, in another field. Jassi tells them that the area beyond the fence is Pakistan, and the fence is the Border.

The students' second stop, Himachal, finds them meeting the wheelchair-bound former Air Force pilot Vikram Shergill (Sunny Deol), whose Army officer brother, Dhananjay Shergill (Bobby Deol), had also been Killed in Action (KIA). There they see that Vikram is very proud of his brother's sacrifice for his country. He shows them how he has come to terms with his own grief.

The third letter is to be delivered to a certain Mr. and Mrs. Naqvi (played by Mithun Chakraborty and Prateeksha Lonkar). In between, their bike runs out of petrol, and they hitch a ride on a military convoy heading to a nearby base. They witness coffins of martyrs in their truck, and the driver quotes an inspiring poem. At the base, they talk to the Regiment commander and find another letter by Lt. Sahil Naqvi (Dino Morea) which they request to deliver it themselves. They see that Mrs. Naqvi is busy in a tea party, hardly paying any attention. Sameer accuses her of not loving her son, and says that Sahil was a coward. Mrs. Naqvi plays them a tape which Sahil had recorded in war, after he had saved a junior's life. She tells him that she and her husband have been affected, and the Tea Parties serve as a distraction for them. They leave, but return the next day, and slowly bring the couple's life back to normal.

After completing their film, they reveal in a voice over that they graduated but did not go to America (as they had initially planned) because the trip has changed their outlook. They try to join the Army but fail. Hence, they start a school to share their experience. Some years later, Sameer and Ali are waking around their School campus. A man in olive green uniform (Salman Khan) approaches them. This is revealed to be Jassi, the son of the first martyred army officer. Now a strapping young man, he has joined the army like his father, and will soon graduate from the IMA. The movie ends with the statement, "You don't have to be a soldier to love your country".

Production

Originally titled Mera Bharat Mahaan (My India is Great), the film was rechristened Heroes, to avoid sounding jingoistic.

Filming began on 15 June 2007. Salman and Preity are paired opposite each other, in their fifth film together. Shooting took place in Ladakh, Chandigarh, Punjab and Delhi. Some scenes were shot in Pangong Tso featuring Salman Khan, Sohail Khan and Vatsal Sheth.

Crew

Critical reception

Heroes received generally positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the movie 3.5 stars out of 5.

The Indian Express argues that the film does manage to say what it set out to: that pride keeps the families of the deceased soldiers going, that civilians sleep peacefully only because someone has given up his life for them, and that they have a country only because they have brave ���soldiers��� guarding its borders. But the director falls for the easiest trick in the book i.e. wrings tears out of so many situations that everything, even the supreme sacrifice that the soldiers make, turns trite. Indiatimes movies gave the movie 4 out 5.

The film's writer Aseem Arora was nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Story.

Box office

Ths film grossed $326,425 in its opening week. It was an above-average performer at box office.