Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey
File:Khjjs1.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ashutosh Gowariker
Written by	Manini Chatterjee (book)
Screenplay by	Ashutosh Gowariker Raoul V Randolf
Produced by	Ajay Bijli Sanjeev Bijli Sunita A. Gowariker
Starring	Abhishek Bachchan Deepika Padukone Vishakha Singh
Cinematography	Kiran Deohans Seetha Sandhiri
Edited by	Dilip Deo
Music by	Sohail Sen
Distributed by	PVR Pictures
Release date	December 3, 2010 (2010-12-03)
Country	Template:Film India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹ 35 Crore

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (Hindi: खेलें हम जी जान से) is a Hindi period piece film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles. It is based on the book Do And Die by Manini Chatterjee, based on the Chittagong Uprising of 1930. The film has been shot mostly in Goa along with portions in Mumbai. The first promo of the film was unveiled on 12 October 2010, on the film's official Facebook page. The film was released on December 3, 2010.

Plot

Khelein Hum is about a teacher Surjya Sen a.k.a Masterda (Abhishek Bachchan), who is a well known revolutionary leader of Indian Republican Army Chittagong, who had an instinctual flair for Swaraj and Independence. The film opens up with 16 teenagers playing football in an open field, when the army convoy steps up and orders them to evacuate the field for setting up a base there,undaunted when children oppose their unauthorized evacuation the soldiers threat them and they leave, grinning and plan to meet Masterda Surjya Sen.

Surjya Sen is a teacher who teaches in village school and is an activist for Indian freedom and had links with many other famous revolutionaries who adores him as their leader, the revolutionaries were Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, Ambika Chakraborty, Nirmal Sen and Ananta Singh. Nirmal Sen (Sikander Kher) after being released from jail meets Masterda and asks him for next action. Masterda assures him of next action soon and Nirmal goes on to meet Pritilata Waddedar (Vishakha Singh), when she expresses her eager to join the Indian republican army along with her friend Kalpana Datta (Deepika Padukone). Together they meet Masterda who asks them to prove their skills by assigning them the task of collecting the information about Cantonment. Dressed as sweeping girls they both draw successful sketches of Cantonment.

Meanwhile, those teenagers express their will to join Surjya Sen and to drive the British out of the country. Surjya Sen enlists them and trains them in martial exercise, shooting and bomb making. Masterda devises the plan to rock the British Empire by planning a raid on police lines Armoury, Cantonment, Telegraph office and Railway lines. Apart from Surjya Sen, the group included Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Baul, Nirmal Sen, Ambika Chakraborty, Naresh Roy, Sasanka Datta, Ardhendu Dastidar, Harigopal Baul, Tarakeswar Dastidar, Ananta Singh, Jiban Ghoshal, Anand Gupta, Pritilata Waddedar and Kalpana Datta. The plan was put into action at 10 o'clock on April 18, 1930. As per plan, the armory of the police was captured by a group of revolutionaries led by Ganesh Ghosh and another group of ten, led by Lokenath Baul took over the Auxiliary Force armory. Unfortunately the guns were found but bullets were not there. So they had to burn the arms there only. The revolutionaries also succeeded in dislocating telephone and telegraph communications and disrupting the movement of the trains. After the successful raids, all the revolutionary groups gathered outside the police armory where Surjya Sen took a military salute, hoisted the National Flag and proclaimed a Provisional Revolutionary Government. The revolutionaries left Chittagong town before dawn and marched towards the Chittagong hill ranges, looking for a safe place, but the police by then with the support of British Army had them surrounded, but the British Army's first wave had been demolished by Masterda's Teenagers ,this enraged the British and they bought machine guns and fired casualties in Masterda's side. Harigopal Baul (Tegra) was first to be shot dead along with twelve others and the group had to flee leaving Ambika Chakraborty wounded, the Britishers found the dead bodies and burnt them with Petroleum. Later eight young rebels led by Pritilata Waddedar attacked the European Club. After killing the officials the rebels fled and Pritilata commits suicide by swallowing Cyanide.

The gallows in Chittagong Central Jail, Bangladesh, where Surya Sen was hanged. The Government of Bangladesh designated it as a monument.

Meanwhile, Masterda had split the group into four and asked them to separate. While living with her sister in Patiya village the police under Major Cameron surrounded Masterda and tried to capture him but he was shot dead by Nirmal sen. While Nirmal got wounded, he asked Masterda to get out of there and henceforth sacrificing his own life fighting. Masterda escaped and retired to another house with Pritilata and other young rebels. Meanwhile the Police SP of Chittagong and other parts press hard crackdown on escaping rebel mebers and search for Masterda like anything while Masterda escapes other members got arrested or killed in encounters with police while some members shot themselves like heroes to evade brutal torture by police. After few months, Haripada a young rebel decides to take revenge as he assassinates the SP who had an upper hand while suppressing the rebels, during an army football match. Finally, one night Masterda was encircled and was captured by police troopers he was trialled before the court and was sentenced to death by hanging, Surjya sen happilly accepts the verdict. Before the death sentence, Surjya Sen was brutally tortured by British executioners who break all his teeth, limbs and joints with hammer. He was dragged to the rope unconscious and was hanged, thus ending the glorious life of a revolutionary who became a living legend in the column of Indian Martyrs who laid their lives for Indian Freedom.

Cast

• Abhishek Bachchan as Surjya Sen
• Deepika Padukone as Kalpana Datta
• Vishakha Singh as Pritilata Waddedar
• Sikander Kher as Nirmal Sen
• Mahinder Singh as Ananta Singh
• Shreyas Pandit as Ambika Chakraborty
• Samrat Mukherjee as Ganesh Ghosh
• Feroz Wahid Khan as Loknath Bal
• Monty Munford as Major Johnson
• Amin Gazi

Reception

Critical response

Professional Reviews
IMDb link
Filmfare link
NDTV link
Bollywood Hungamalink
Times of Indialink
Yahoo.com link
India Today link
Deccan Chronicle link
Mumbai Mirrorlink
Rediff link
Sify Movies link
IBN Live link
MovieTalkies.com link
PassionforCinema.com link

The film opened to generally positive reviews. Critics reactions to the film have been mostly generous, although several said it was much too long.

Filmfare gave the movie a three star rating stating Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a bumpy ride as far as the narrative goes. It jolts and jumps and sometimes doesn’t move at all. But that’s all in the first half, which just seems longer than it is. There is some amazing art direction in the film not to mention the costumes; Gowariker shows his forte yet again in making a picture perfect period film. This is his thing. He does it well. Movies like KHJJS reiterate our faith that there are still filmmakers out there who will not compromise on their vision and conviction. Trade fads be damned. And as long as there are stories like this waiting to be told, we hope people like Ashutosh Gowariker will tell them.

The Times of India, which gave a three and half rating, mentioned that the film unfolds like a relentless thriller with loads of action involving the band of revolutionaries as they go about their bloody business. Yet no one hollers the national anthem at youor grows hysterical with patriotic pulp. Instead, the director gently salutes the spirit of nationalism in a seminal scene where the bunch of teenage revolutionaries discover the hypnotic allure of a hymn like `vande mataram' while resting under the shade of the trees in their village.. Nikhat Kazmi (Times of India) felt that the filmmaker was able to "combine high-octane drama with a high degree of restraint". She writes, "The film unfolds like a relentless thriller with loads of action involving the band of revolutionaries as they go about their bloody business."

NDTV gave 2.5 out of 5 rating and noted, Ashutosh Gowariker is Bollywood’s most earnest historian and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a noble attempt at restoring glory to long-forgotten heroes. Critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated four out of five who opined recreating the bygone era is indeed demanding, laborious and strenuous. It's a challenge to present the era convincingly. Besides extensive detailing to lend authenticity, the director carries the responsibility of making the characters come alive to the present-day generation. Gowariker has successfully done that in the past and does it successfully yet again in KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY. The expectations from KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY are minimal, but you can't overlook the fact that it's a genuinely honest effort that needs to be encouraged and appreciated.

Sify movies, which also gave a two and a half rating, said that would be a film one would wholeheartedly and unabashedly recommend.

Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN gave it a two star rating explaining It’s a noble effort that gives you a glimpse of forgotten history.

Reuters trashed that the Gowariker’s biggest strength is that he chooses a story worth telling. For that reason alone, and to get a glimpse into a much-ignored part of our history, this film is worth a watch.

In the newspaper Daily News and Analysis, Aniruddha Guha says that it is the story of the film that made it watchable. “The strong points of the film are the novel storyline – that of kids fighting for independence – and the performances of most actors, especially the children. Also, Gowariker manages to recreate the era well (with art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai), and draws you in the plot slowly and steadily,” wrote Mr. Guha.

MovieTalkies rated 4.5 out of 5 and noted "Gowariker this time manages to keep a running subtext that underlines the drama with a national emotional resonance right till the heart-wrenching denouement that will bring a lump to the throat of even the most hardened hearts, while the story actually unfolds as a thriller with the planning and execution of five attacks on the British in a single night and its aftermath, a first for Indian cinema. At a time when our cinema needs true calibre to distinguish itself as an art form rather than a medium of lowest common denominator entertainment, 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey' stands as a lighthouse, shining high".

Soundtrack

Untitled

The film's songs and film score were composed by Sohail Sen, who had worked on Ashutosh's previous film What's Your Raashee?. The lyrics are penned by Javed Akhtar. The music was launched on 27 October 2010. The complete track listing of the soundtrack was also released on the same day of the music launch, on the film’s official Facebook page. The official soundtrack contains five songs and seven background score pieces, some of which have been arranged and produced by Simaab Sen. The soundtrack album met with generally positive reviews from the critics. The title track has been sung by the pupils from Suresh Wadkar's music academy.

Track listing

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
1	"Yeh Des Hai Mera"	Sohail Sen	05:40
2	"Naiyn Tere"	Pamela Jain, Ranjini Jose	04:44
3	"Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey"	Kids Chorus (Suresh Wadkar Ajivasan Music Academy)	04:42
4	"Sapne Saloney"	Sohail Sen, Pamela Jain	05:44
5	"Vande Mataram Revised (Sanskrit into Hindi)"	Chorus (Cine Singers Association Chorus Group)	04:16
6	"Long Live Chittagong"	Violin, Sitar, Flute	01:49
7	"The Teenagers Whistle"	Whistle, Accordion, Flute, Sitar	04:05
8	"Surjya's Sorrow"	Flute, Strings section, Chorus	02:41
9	"Vande Mataram"	Chorus, Strings section	01:54
10	"The Escape"	Strings section, Chorus	03:24
11	"Naiyn Tere (Sad)"	Pamela Jain, Flute, Sitar, Chorus, Strings section	02:31
12	"Revolutionary Comrades"	Strings section, Chorus	03:28

External links

• Official website
• Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey at IMDb