I caught the movie finally on Sunday night on TV. I had missed it when it hit the theatres and every time later when it showed on TV.

I love war movies, watched quite a few foreign as well has Hindi films. All these films connect with you. You feel for their plight, you take pride in their victories and you cry when they die on the battle field defending their land. You get anxious about the plans they make, the strategies they draw, you cheer them, you pray for them, you sing along their songs which become almost an anthem for you. The films get you so involved that you feel you are living the war.

That’s how war films should be. Connect with the audience’s pulse and touch the heart. Not many war films have been made in India. Haqeeqat and Border are the ones that stand out. Prahar dealt with the Army but it involved fighting internal terrorism and corruption and till date it’s a movie you cannot miss! It was not an out and out war film but depicted the life of soldiers to some extent. I did not catch “Dhoop” entirely but parts of it and even that film connected somewhere.

LOC-Kargil did not! It just did not. The characters were never well defined because they were too many. The battles kept switching on and off and you lost the connectivity and continuity. Every soldier had the same story and actors did not have their heart in the characters they portrayed. They were going through the motions and there was no involvement!

It was a war that shook the nation. A war where India lost too many young soldiers. A war that was fought in the most difficult conditions. A war where Pakistan refused to acknowledge their own soldiers and whose bodies were abandoned, and who were given a respectful burial by the Indian army.

LOC-Kargil the film was believed to have captured that war so that it would reach thousands of people.

The film lacked sensitivity, emotion and just failed to strike a chord! Not a line stayed in memory, not a scene can be recalled, and not a song could be called an anthem. Recollect “Kar Chale Hum Watan Tumhare Hawale Sathiyo, Sandese Aate Hain”, LOC-Kargil had none!

Even news anchors put in emotion when they cover a war, how come J.P.Dutta failed so miserably?

Disappointed, most disappointed! LOC-Kargil had no soul, and when you make a movie without a soul, it will never go down in history as one of the greats! Too much indulgence in details and events probably ruined Dutta’s fine attempt.

The intention was noble, the heart just not there!