For a production house known for its fluffy romances and chiffon saris, it is really surprising and yes, commendable they backed a film that addresses some real global issues and politics, that too by a first time director. The danger of being pedantic or polemic was rife, and the danger of trying to avoid that pitfall by resorting to gimmickry lines like “You from India? From the land of Amitabh Bachchan, Sharukh Khan, Amir Khan…?” was also rife, but the director successfully manages to seek a balance between the two extremes and delivers a fairly clean cut movie that is set in a time frame of 48-hours and involves 5 characters who are thrown into a jeep, literally called Kabul Express in their search for the elusive Taliban forces who are on the run after US intervention post 9/11.

What starts off as a routine documentary journey showcasing the land and its people ravaged by 25-years of civil war is, within 20 minutes down the film, hooked into a proper plot when Imran Khan Afridi (Salman Shahid), a Talibani, hijacks the jeep in which the two Indian journalists - Suhel Khan and Jai Kapoor (John Abraham and Arshad Warshi) are traveling; he wants a safe passage to the borders of Pakistan now that the people of Afghanistan are literally hounding the Talibs. On the way Jessica (Linda Arsenio), a young American journalist who calls herself a ‘sensible American’ also joins the group necessitated through a plot device that involves a ragtag set of Afghan lumpens who are up to no good. She not only provides the much needed glamour quotient in the film, which is so full of rustic men (and also adds to the international casting that the film claims as its USP) but also acts as a necessary catalyst at major junctures in the plot; she is not just an eye candy. Thankfully, no clichéd love angle is attempted and the story moves forward like an arrow. Through several plot twists and reversal of fortunes the viewers hitch a ride along with the motley crowd and share in their experiences and emotional turmoil and gradual bonding.

The Pakistani Talib not only hijacks the jeep, but also hijacks the main story of the two journalists on the lookout for Talibans but we don’t mind. We don’t bother if the two Indians really get to meet the actual Talibans. The stated goal of the two Indian protagonists loses its relevance after a certain point and the conflict represented by the antagonist Imran Khan Afridi and the hostile landscape becomes the setting for a larger drama that spews forth issues and concerns, which become more significant than the fulfillment of the objective of the film. The deadly conflict between the hijacker and the hijacked becomes humane and humorous as the story progresses and the antagonist changes shades and begins to gain the sympathy of the viewers and the other characters, except the Afghan driver (Hanif Hum Ghum) who keeps on harping against him till the end and wants him dead. This is where the film / screenplay falters; despite the roundedness of the character of the Afghan driver, he is never redeemed and looses our sympathy. But till that time we are hooked on to the story of Imran Khan Afridi, actually a member of the Pakistani Army and his tragic betrayal by the Pakistani army who had sent him to fight the war in Afghanistan along with others but has no need of him now that Pakistan has become an American ally, his memories of his daughter who was married off and has to keep hijab, and whom he meets for a fleeting moment at a remote Afghan village. It is a very poignant moment in the film and for the few seconds when she removes her veil and exposes her face to her father, whom she knows she will never meet again, freezes in our mind.

There are several other moments like that in the film; when Pepsi cans come raining down from a truck hit by US planes the night before; or when the John Abraham character, doing push-ups, asks a young boy if he too wants to do the same and the boy is revealed to be lame, a victim of the mindless war that has ravaged his land from much before his birth; or the argument between Imran Khan Afridi and Jai the Indian cameraman about who is a better all-rounder – Imran Khan or Kapil Dev; or the number of times that Imran Khan bumps cigarettes off Jai, or when all of them sing a Mohammad Rafi song ( Main Zindagi ka Saath Nibha Gaya) as they drive along the treacherous terrain… These are the moments that lift the film and we realize that it is not frequently that we experience such cinematic flashes. Through these personal and tender moments we, and the characters realize the futility of war and Imran Khan Afridi is forced to look within himself and wonder if everything that he ever fought for so long, out of conviction and duty, was really worth it after all.

The casting is cocksure, except for John Abraham who is as wooden to the core as usual. It is left to Arshad Warshi to salvage the situation through witty lines throughout the film, but he never eats up John and maintains his balance. Arshad today is amongst the finest actors in our country and proves it once again in this film. But a complaint here the characterization of the two journalists is far too sketchy and insufficiently developed; we do feel the need for a little more information about their backgrounds, apart from the fact that they work for some Indian news channel. They remain strictly functional and John’s performance does not help the matter; though Arshad does manage to compensate a little for it through his addiction for smoking and love of Kapil Dev; it does add a layer to his character. The international actors are brilliant and perform their roles with a competence that is praiseworthy, in particular Saman Shahid who makes undoubtedly the biggest impact in the film. Helped by the meatiest role in the film, the actor delivers and how!

First time director Kabir Khan who happens to be a well-known documentary filmmaker knows his job. He knows the Afghan terrain well, having already shot a documentary there in 2003 and he gathers all his experiences to work up a screenplay that is taut and witty without playing to the exotica that a country like Afghanistan immediately conjures up. He is ably assisted in his vision by cameraman Anshuman Mahale who has captured the landscape realistically without being indulgent or pompous; his compositions do not overwhelm us but are strictly relegated to the story-telling. Amitabh Shukla’s quicksilver editing complements the cameraman’s and director’s vision. The background score also weaves in and out without calling attention upon itself.

More such films from the stable that is called Bollywood and it would really be time to say that Bombay / Hindi cinema has arrived. Kabul Express is not a brilliant film, but yes, it is a good film that manages to stay entertaining without being sensationalist. Therein lies its strength. It is rare that a mainstream Indian film engages in political deliberations but it does it with a fine sense of balance, without either sugar coating the issues or being pedagogical about it. It is witty and dark, but entertaining as well.