Pukar

About the film

Pukar (lit. 'The Call') is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi with cinematography by Ashok Mehta, Santosh Sivan, Baba Azmi and Chota K. Naidu. It stars Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namrata Shirodkar, Danny Denzongpa, Shivaji Satam and Om Puri. The background score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman.

Pukar was released on 4 February 2000, received mixed reviews from critics, and was a below average grosser at the box office.

Plot

A group of armed terrorists led by Abhrush (Danny Denzongpa) has been cornered by the Indian Army on a mountain. In order to carry out further operations, the army has blocked all the entries and exits of the mountain. At this time, Minister Mishra (Govind Namdeo) arrives at the mountain and wishes to enter to visit the temple to do a prayer. The guardians initially refuse him entry, citing the imminent danger of the terrorists. But after Mishra insists, the guardians, considering his high position in the government, let him in. Mishra is later attacked and kidnapped by Abhrush's men in the mountains, who demand a safe passage to Pakistan.

The Indian army then sends Para (Special Forces) led by officer Major Jaidev Rajvansh (aka Jai, Anil Kapoor) to secretly enter the mountain rescue minister Mishra and arrest the terrorists. During the operation, the army learns that the information about it has been leaked and Abhrush had known about it, but the team manages to complete the mission, with a few casualties.

Due to the fact that the army has learned they have mole working for Abhrush's organization, Colonel Iqbal Hussain (Om Puri), Jai's superior, keeps the information of Abhrush's whereabout high confidentiality: they shift him from one prison to another every week, and the destination and route information is directly sent from their army headquarters to Jai directly, without letting anyone else know. Jai also suspects that Mishra is working for Abhrush, and his kidnapping was a staged plan to make Abhrush escape. But Jai has no evidence to prove it.

Production

Sunny Deol was the first choice for the role of Major Jaidev Rajvansh opposite Madhuri Dixit. After Deol declined the role, director Rajkumar Santoshi approached producer Boney Kapoor and cast Anil Kapoor as the male lead.

Soundtrack

The music is given by A. R. Rahman, while the lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri for all tracks, except Kay Sera Sera written by Javed Akhtar. The song Kay Sera Sera is based on "Kadhal Niagara" from En Swasa Kaatre. Rahman reused the song "Oh Bosnia" as "Ek Tu Hi Bharosa". The song was composed and performed by Rahman in his Malaysian concert in 1996, that was in aid of Bosnian victims. The piano was played by Rahman himself. "Hai Jaana" has two parts within the film version and soundtrack version. The song "Sunta Hai Mera Khuda" was shot at Arches National Park in Utah, United States. The song " Kismat Se Tum Humko Mile Ho" was shot at Mount Marcus Baker in Alaska, United States.

Reception

Sify gave the film three out of five, writing, "Its ultimately the actors who carry the film through. Not that the plot does not work, in fact its engrossing, but it simply fails to carry you through." V Gangadhar of Rediff.com praised the first half but criticed the second half, writing, "The film falls to pieces in the second half. The action scenes are highly contrived. Abrush tries to project a larger-than-life presence by constantly rolling his huge eyes and grunting with vigour. And Santoshi's handling of the military scenes is rather amateurish. Does the army strip a court-martialled officer even of his clothes?"

Key details