In 1993 , India was going through an uneasy phase. The afterthoughts of the communal riots and the Mumbai bomb blasts had left a sore wound . Free radicals and weak security reminded us of how vulnerable we were. This was aggravated by a complete sense of helplessness when it came to a beautiful region called Kashmir. News reports used to talk of the increase in insurgency and curfew in Srinagar, Baramullah and other towns. In the absence of Google maps, our text books showed us the original map of Jammu and Kashmir , the large beautiful state that was part of India. Many of us thought it was a losing battle , some of us didnt even know what the problem was. Basic questions like what is the Army doing, why so much militancy came up but we did not have a national debate. We wanted the Akhand India to be protected by our armed forces , the soldiers who have laid down their life for the country in previous years.
In this world, India found an unlikely hero who had the coolest job in the Indian military forces. Indian movies had spies and soldiers but never a cryptographer. Although the movie was not so much about terrorism, Roja actually delved into the human elements of a newly wed couple beginning to enjoy themselves given the divide - the girl comes from a village and the guy is a cryptographer on a secret mission. When he gets kidnapped in Kashmir, the woman doesnt know the local language and she struggles to find help. The same government that had released a captured terrorist for a CM's daughter wont do the same for an ordinary cryptographer. But the womans spirit is so strong that she goes and even meets the captured terrorist to release her husband. The husband tries to understand the rationale for terrorism from the guy who kidnapped him ( a Pankaj Kapoor master act as Liyaqat Khan) . Its a story of triumph against circumstances and more powerful adversaries.
That triumph is best shown in this scene, where the terrorist burns the national flag and Arvind Swamy the cryptographer douses the flames with his legs to a musical crescendo set by the other hero in the movie AR Rahman. This is cinematic legend.
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