Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

sharonkaur-43924 Its 1997 movie, story about Indian Army at Pakistan border defending the country. A great story with number of beautiful songs.

jmathur_swayamprabha Another Independence Day of India comes. 63 years completed. Still we crave for patriotic movies able to arouse our love for our country in the most emotional manner. J.P. Dutta made one such movie in the year 1997, Border which is a landmark in the series of war-based movies in India. In my subjective opinion, it is the second best war movie ever made in India (the best being Haqeeqat made in 1964 by Chetan Anand). I like this movie so much that I have watched it five times in theatre and even more on the small screen. More than the action, it is the patriotic emotion exasperated by this movie that always appeals me and force me to watch this movie once more.It is based on the famous Battle of Longewala happened on the Longewala post near Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) during the Indo-Pak war of 1971. Major Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri (still alive) led the small force containing a handful of soldiers (total 120) and took on the might of some 2000 and odd Pakistani opponents during that fateful night of 4th December, 1971. J.P. Dutta has presented that memorable battle alongwith all its leading events and facts in the most authentic and impressive manner.Sunny Deol plays the role of Major Kuldeep Singh who gets an assembled force to protect the post of Longewala which includes Captain Bhairon Singh (Sunil Shetty), 2nd Lieutenant Dharmveer (Akshaye Khanna), Subedar Ratan Singh (Puneet Issar), Subedar Mathura Daas (Sudesh Berry) and like wise. This small armed force has a cook Bhaagi Ram (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) who is an old buddy of Subedar Ratan Singh. Very near to them is the Wing Commander (Jackie Shroff) busy in making an airbase afresh. He is supposed to help the army troops with his fighter planes but when the deadly hour came, he could not do so because the planes could not fly in the night. He could reach them and start bombarding the Pakistani tanks in the morning only. By that time, those 120 soldiers had to spend the deadly night, staring straight in the eyes of the death. And they did so with courage and conviction and during this exercise several of them laid their lives for the cause of the motherland.J.P. Dutta's own brother had martyrdom in this war. Hence he has made this movie with personal emotions. That's why Border seems to be coming straight out of his heart. Right from the very first frame, the movie grips the viewer and does not leave him till the very end. These emotions only seem to have led Dutta to go for some rhetoric too which could have been done away with. The shooting on real location with the utmost realistic revisiting of the warlike environment, the arms and the ammunition and finally the scenes of the war is simply mesmerizing and showcases Dutta's highly admirable talent in making this type of a movie. The toil and sincerity of Dutta and his whole team spaks for itself from each and every frame of the movie. It does not appear even for a moment that we are watching something imaginary. The viewer gets a genuine feeling of witnessing that unforgettable battle.For the technical aspects and the action scenes of the movie; the more we praise it, the better. Watching the war scenes on the big screen is a treat for the action lovers. There is momentum in the movie throughout barring some romantic tracks and some songs. Cinematography and editing, both are their very best. Screenplay has been written by Dutta himself whereas his brother O.P. Dutta has written the dialogues. Dialogues could have been better. However J.P. Dutta has been able to cover this weakness by his forceful screenplay and action on the screen.Anu Malik has composed highly admirable music for this movie and strung the beautiful words penned by Javed Akhtar in memorable songs. Sandese Aate Hain by Sonu Nigam, Roop Kumar Rathodand others is definitely a memorable song to listen to as well as watch on the screen. Hindustan Hindustan at the end of the movie, Mere Dushman Mere Bhai Mere Humsaaye by Hariharan and the romantic song - Hamen Jabse Mohabbat Ho Gayi Hai by Alka Yagnik and Sonu Nigam are all very good to listen. The romantic song by Roop Kumar Rathod picturized upon Sunil Shetty and Sharbani Mukherjee on their first conjugal night - Aye Jaate Huye Lamhon Zara Zara Thehero Zara Thehero is one of my most favourite romantic-emotional songs.Performance wise talking, since Border is a male-oriented movie, the female cast (barring some footage coming in the share of Rakhee and Pooja Bhatt) did notget much to do. The track of Sapna Bedi as the romantic angle for Jackie Shroff is totally superfluous. However the actresses in their odd scenes and songs have not disappointed. The movie mainly belongs to the male cast. Sunny Deol has given a towering performance and I suppose even the real life Major (laer Brigadier) Kuldeep Singh Chandpuri also must have praised him after seeing the movie. Barely 22 years old Akshaye Khanna has delivered a highly mature performance as Dharmveer. Jackie Shroff, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Puneel Issar, Sudesh Berry and many more characters playing the soldiers have done quite well. The admirable thing is that every character is able to maintain its separate identity in the movie and he viewer feels its presence. Finally, the actor who conquered the heart of Jitendra Mathur is Sunil Shetty. Sunil as Captain Bhairon Singh who is highly emotional for his motherland, quietly stepped deep into my heart with his touching performance.For a person who has liked this movie (like me) it has enormous repeat value. Can be watched any number of times. A memorable movie upon an unforgettable historical event.

udita_mittal Border is no Saving Private Ryan or behind enemy lines. It's an unpretentious patriotic film, which is great to watch on 15 Aug or 26 Jan. It's heavily dramatised with punching dialogue and touching songs. The characters are varied and likable, and acting doesn't come much better, though Sunny Deol is over the top as usual.It's sad to see this movie trashed by some Pakistani viewers, who are clearly not happy to see a movie made about their war failures. Maybe they should make movies depicting their own point of view, rather than watching pirated copies of Indian movies, and then complaining about them.

Dr_Cool A very good war movie, despite somewhat expected chauvinist moments counterpointed by fluffy pacifist messages. Nice exploration of the inner personal dramas of the characters, and how it will affect their battle actions. Some battle scenes are very realistic; others contain elements of mystic heroism, yet the mix works well. The story has the same ingredients of the siege of the Alamo, but in a completely different cultural environment, what gives it a special appeal.