December 16, 2010 :
Director: Major Ravi
Cast: Mohanlal, Amitabh Bachchan, Ganesh Venkatraman, Sumalatha, Kaveri Jha, Ananya, Lal, Anoop Chandran, Major Ravi, Jaffer Idukki, Major Kishore, Kannan Pattambi
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ***
‘Kandahar’ is one of the most awaited films from the Mollywood industry this year not only because it deals with a hard hitting storyline of the true incident of the hijack of the Indian Airlines flight 814, but also because it brings together two powerhouse actors from Indian cinema Mohanlal and Amitabh Bachchan.
Although the hijacking incident took place when the Indian Airlines Airbus A300 was flying from Kathmandu to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, the Major Ravi project has been primarily shot in the cities of Ooty and New Delhi in India. However all aerial shots showing the aeroplane midair have been taken in Russia. While the performances are wonderful, it is the locations which have taken our breath away.
Every actor, especially Mohanlal, Amitabh Bachchan and Ganesh Venkatraman do justice to their roles and the fact that Big B did not accept a single rupee for the project in spite of being offered a huge amount just goes to show how much these actors are dedicated towards films that bear a social message. Mohanlal doubles up as producer of ‘Kandahar’ and going by the critics’ reviews, he will surely recover his money very quickly.
The surprise element in ‘Kandahar’ is the music of the Malayalam movie. Shamir Tandon’s compositions will touch your heart. Every song is aptly placed in the film. Though the narrative style may seem to drag in certain portions of the film, it is good news for the Kollywood and Bollywood that ‘Kandahar’ will soon be dubbed in Hindi and Tamil.
