120 Bahadur REVIEW: Farhan Akhtar And His Battalion Full Of Courageous Bravehearts Will Make You Proudly Scream ‘Dada Kishan Ki Jai’

Film:
120 Bahadur

Director: Razneesh ‘Razy’ Ghai

Writers: Rajiv G Menon (Story & Screenplay), Sumit Arora (Dialogues)

Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Sparsh Walia, Ajinkya Ramesh Deo, Eijaz Khan, Vivan Bhathena, Ankit Siwach, Ashutosh Shukla, Atul Singh, Brijesh Karanwal,dhanveer Singh, Digvijay Pratap, Devendra Ahirwar, Sahib Verma, Marcus Mok, Seng Soo Ming, Fred Chan, Raashii Khanna

Platform: Theatres

Runtime: 137 minutes (2 hours, 17 minutes)

120 Bahadur Review

Dada Kishan Ki Jai! Razneesh ‘Razy’ Ghai’s 120 Bahadur is an action-packed and emotion-heavy war drama that pays tribute the soldiers who bravely scarified their lives during the Battle of Rezang La – one of the major events of the Sino-Indian War that took place in 1962. The story takes us back to October 1962, when Chinese troops set their eyes on Kashmir and began their march towards capturing the Chushul airstrip and making their way towards Ladakh. On the onset of the invasion, Major Shaitan Singh Bhati (Farhan Akhtar) – who heads the 13th Battalion of Kumaon Regiment, and his platoon of 120 soldiers of the Charlie Company hold a position at Rezang La in the Chushul sector amid temperatures dropping to below minus 15 degree.

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On November 17, Major Shaitan Singh Bhati spots more than 3000 Chinese soldiers marching towards Rezang La and informs his superiors. When advised to abandon their post and head to safety as they were clearly outnumbered and more troops couldn’t be send to Reang La immediately, Major Shaitan Singh Bhati replies that he and his 120 brave men would not leave their position and let the crown of their mother fall in the hands of the Chinese. Pledging to fight the enemy until their last breath, the battalion divides into 3 groups and secures the narrow passage way. How do the army get to know about the scarifies that took place at the altitude and what happens when 120 soldiers – who spent most their lives as farmers, face 3000 Chinese troops, is what makes us the rest of the film.

Scroll below to read our honest review of 120 Bahadur and know whether or not this war drama starring Farhan Akhtar is worth a watch in theatres.

What Works

The action, the camera work and the cinematography are top notch. These 3 positives clubbed with a brilliantly written script full of emotions without over dramatising the narrative makes it one of the best war dramas produced in Bollywood in a very long time.

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What Doesn’t Work

The only drawback – we would have loved to see glimpses of the actual war or the families of the bravehearts at the end.

Technical Analysis

Direction

Razneesh ‘Razy’ Ghai has done a good job behind the camera and him giving his 1000% to bringing the story to live is clearly visible. give credit where it’s due, he has gone all out. The film has managed to maintain authenticity buy making sure the cast and crew of 120 Bahadur shoot important sequences in real and extremely challenging locations, instead of in front of a green screen in a studio. This helped add more character, depth and emotions to the narrative and tribute. The war scenes are executed with finesse, leaving you wanting more but knowing that everything has been delivered to perfection.

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Story & Screenplay

Written by Rajiv G Goswami – with powerful dialogues penned by Sumit Arora, the narrative is fast paced and manages to keep you glued to your seat despite the non-linear storytelling method used. The story – which takes place between October 20, 1962 and November 21, 1962, is beautifully retold with an engaging screenplay filled with right amounts of emotions (thought their could have been a tad bit more) and well-written war sequences that will have you on he edge of your seat. While the first half is a bit slow, it picks up pace and then there’s no stopping it.

Sumit Arora’s dialogues aren’t the typical monologues you would head from a commander (near Major); they are conversational but still ignite a fire deep within you soul that even the snow and cold in Kashmir won’t be able to snuff out.

120 Bahadur Cinematography

Cinematographer Tetsuo Nagata has done a remarkable job in not only capturing the beauty of Kashmir but in also bringing to life the living situation of the soldiers posted there, the blood splatter that covered several parts of the mountain tops for months and the calm snow fall that pretty much succeeded in wiping off a piece of history every Indian should know and remember.

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Editing, Set Design & Costume

Shailaja Sharma’s production design seem as real as it can get. The costumes by Theia Tekchandaney and makeup by are also on-point. Rameshwar S. Bhagat has done an incredible job in beautifully telling the story and managing to keep the runtime below 140 minutes.

Action & VFX

Action director and stunt supervisor Marek Svitek deserves a round of applause for the manner in which he’s choreographed the war scenes of 120 Bahadur. And the best thing – the action is authentic and unlike today’s today of it being gory, disturbing and filled only with blood splater. Nolabel, Frame X and Fortune Leaf’s VFX is not Avenger-level, but also nothing to complain about.

Music

Satish Raghunathan’s background score is a beauty unlike any other. It adds volumn to the action-packed fight between the Indian and Chinese forces, taking the viewing experience notches higher. The film’s songs do a decent job is bringing emotions to the narrative but don’t do much else.

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120 Bahadur Star Cast

Farhan Akhtar has given his 100% to the film and that is clearly visible from his very first scene in 120 Bahadur. While we do see his sweat and blood on screen, their is no doubt he has spent them off screen too to ace the mannerism of the posthumous Param Vir Chakra recipient he plays. He shows restrain and anger, managing to impress the audiences with both these personalities of Major Shaitan Singh Bhati.

Talking about the 120 Bahadur aka the young armymen, debutant Sparsh Walia (Radio Operator Ramchander Yadav) gets the maximum screen time and delivers an impeccable performance. Vivan Bhatena (Jemadar Surja Ram), Ashutosh Shukla (Dharampal) and Brijesh Karanwala (Jairam Kaka) also justly essay their parts. The remaining soldiers – Dhanveer Singh (Jemadar Hariram Singh), Digvijay Pratap (Jemadar Saab), Sahib Verma (Nanha), Devendra Ahirwar (Baingan), Ankit Siwach (Ramlal), and Atul Singh (Nihal Singh) also give their heart and soul to the film.

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The Chinese officers – Marcus Mok as General Gao and Seng Soo Ming as Major Memeti may seem over the top but it helps in painting their characters dark.

Ajinkya Ramesh Deo as the Brigadier Commander and Eijaz Khan as the Commanding Officer manage to hold their own despite limited screen time. Raashii Khanna as Major Shaitan Singh Bhati’s wife Sugan is lovely in a special appearance.

Conclusion

120 Bahadur is one of the most realistic war dramas made in Indian and salute to the heroes of Rezang La in a raw and honest manner. Complete by immersive war detailing and a commanding performance by all, the film is surely going to win the hearts of millions, especially those who are part of the armed forces.

Hope our 120 Bahadur review proves helpful in making you book your tickets to watch the film in theatres this weekend. Dada Kishan Ki Jai!

Watch the trailer of 120 Bahadur here:

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Also Read: De De Pyaar De 2 Review: Ajay Devgn, Jaaved Jaaferi, R Madhavan’s Jokes Land In Bits & Pieces

Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.