1971 (2007 film)

1971
Directed by	Amrit Sagar
Written by	Piyush Mishra
Produced by	Amrit Sagar Moti Sagar
Starring	Manoj Bajpayee Ravi Kishan Chitaranjan Giri Kumud Mishra Manav Kaul Deepak Dobriyal Piyush Mishra Vivek Mishra
Cinematography	Chirantan Das
Edited by	Shyam K. Salgonkar
Music by	Akash Sagar
Release date	9 March 2007 (2007-03-09)
Running time	160 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

1971 is a 2007 Indian Hindi war drama film directed by Amrit Sagar, and written by Piyush Mishra and Amrit Sagar, based on a true story of prisoners of war after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The film features an ensemble cast of Manoj Bajpayee, Ravi Kishan, Piyush Mishra, Deepak Dobriyal and others. At the National Film Awards, it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi The film is an account of the escape of six soldiers of the Indian Army taken as prisoners of war by Pakistan Army, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Special mention

1971 was included in Avijit Ghosh's book, 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed

Plot summary

The Camp

The story takes place in Pakistan in 1977, six years after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

Indian soldiers are holding a morning parade. As the Pakistanis Major Karamat and Colonel Sheriar Khan walk by, the Indians turn their backs on them in a gesture of disrespect. Major Suraj Singh (Manoj Bajpayee) being called out of barrack Number 6 for interrogation by the Pakistanis. He is from the 18 Rajputana Rifles and was caught in the Uri sector in December 1971 as he ran out of ammunition. Before being brought to this camp, he was held in Kot Lakhpat, Lahore, where he was punished twice for attempting to escape. We see some of the other POWs; Captain Kabir (Kumud Mishra), Captain Jacob (Ravi Kishan) and Pali discussing the camp in general. They wonder why the Indians, who were so far held in various jails all over Pakistan, have been brought to this camp. They take note of the fact that the camp is well-facilitated and that they are receiving good treatment as POWs.

Arrival Of More POWs

The next morning, an army truck is driving towards the camp. This truck has a few more Indian POWs. This group includes Flight Lieutenant Ram (Manav Kaul), Flight Lieutenant Gurtu (Deepak Dobriyal) and Colonel Puri. They steal a guard's wallet and get a Pakistani army ID card on the way

Hope Against Hope

The POWs realize that they are in a place less than 200 km from the Indo-Pak border. (The place, it is revealed later, is Chaklala.) When Colonel Puri is told of this and the idea of an escape is put forward, he overrules it. His reasons are that perhaps they will finally be repatriated and that a failed attempt could result in all of them being killed.

The Reason

A jail in Multan, Pakistan, is being examined by a joint delegation of the International Red Cross Society and the Pakistan Human Rights Commission. They are accompanied by some Indian ladies who claim that their kin are held prisoner. Their proof is that letters written by their missing kin bear the addresses of Pakistani jails. The women are being shown around by Colonel Shakoor, and they are distraught to see no trace of their loved ones here. The head of the Human Rights Commission, Sabeena Jahangir, signs a document stating that they are satisfied with the results of the search.

Here we understand the reason why the Indian POWs were brought to Chaklala: The Pakistani military/government bowed to international pressure and allowed the delegation to examine the jails. The POWs has to be hidden away in a secret camp for the duration of the delegation's visit in Pakistan.

The Repatriation And The Realization

Colonel Shakoor arrives at the Chaklala camp; he informs Colonel Puri and Major Singh that all the POWs will be repatriated. Major Singh, Captain Kabir and Subedar Ahmed are distrustful of Colonel Shakoor's words, although the other prisoners celebrate their imminent return home.

That night, while the movie is being screened, Ahmed steals a newspaper from an army jeep and calls Major Singh and Captains Kabir and Jacob into the barracks. From reading the newspaper, they learn that General Zia Ul-Haq has overthrown Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a military coup and formed a new government. Further, General Zia has stated that all Indian soldiers who were taken prisoner so far have been returned and, as proof, he has allowed the International Red Cross Society to inspect the Pakistani jails. Since no POW was found, General Zia has reasserted the Pakistani government's innocence in this matter. The four soldiers now understand the reason why they were taken to this camp.

The First Steps

The six soldiers decide to escape, and they must waste no time. They take two steps the same night. First, they request the Pakistanis for a group photo. This request is granted. Second, at the dinner, Ahmed attempts to strike Jacob, for which he is punished by Colonel Puri the next morning. When Ahmed refuses to bear out his punishment, Colonel Puri wishes to court-martial him. The POWs ask for the use of a barrack to serve as a courtroom, a request that is also granted.

The Breakout

As a celebration for 14th of August, a Ghazal singer is invited to the camp. The Indian soldiers plant a crude bomb in the camp, which unfortunately gets wet. They also manage some fake IDs and Pakistani uniforms. Due to some confusion, Ahmed dies to blow up the electrical room. There is a stampede and a general confusion as the soldiers attempt to put out the fire. Suraj and his men escort the ghazal singer out of the camp in an army truck.

The Night

Sultana misleads the search party of Pakistanis as she has been let off by Indians.She says that the escapees were in plain clothes and were talking of going towards Islamabad. Major Mallik separates from the search party and heads out in his chopper to cover the highway to Muzaffarabad. At a checkpoint, the escapees, led by Suraj Singh, gain access with the help of the fake ID card. Suraj asks the guard the reason for the checkpoint and is told that there is a search on for six fugitives. From this, he understands that the Pakistanis do not want it to be known that the fugitives are actually POWs.

Sultana Khanum phones Sabeena Jahangir from a wayside hotel and informs her of the presence of Indian POWs in a camp in Chaklala. She says that she is ready to provide testimony to that effect.

The Wild Chase At Muzaffarabad

Meanwhile, in the town, while Ram and Gurtu are purchasing medicines and painkillers for Jacob, Ram notices a military convoy approaching. The search party is here. He and Gurtu run to the hotel to warn the others. Although they were not seen by the searchers, the place is soon swarming with soldiers. In the hotel room, Jacob finds the pain unbearable and reaches for a pistol. Ram and Gurtu reach the room just in time to see him shoot himself in the head. Although the four men are stunned, they have no time to waste. They cover Jacob in a blanket, take the map and the bags, and flee through the window.

The Sacrifice

Ram kills many of the search party by exploding a grenade on himself.

The Intervention

While Mallik and Khan are directing the rescue, Sabeena Jahangir arrives there with the Red Cross delegates and questions Khan as to his lies regarding the Indian POWs.

Saluting Fallen Comrades

However, this intervention has bought off valuable time for the escapees. They have gone on the route marked by Jacob and reached the point from where they have to go by foot. The bike is anyway out of petrol. While Suraj Singh throws the bike down a mountainside, Gurtu has leaned Kabir against a tree and is making three mounds in the snow; one for each man who died on this mission. Seeing this, Suraj points out that they sacrificed their lives for their battle, so they must be respected as martyrs. He, Kabir and Gurtu stand up and salute this memorial. Then, they walk on into the snow, Kabir being held up by the others.

The Cold Night

The Indian soldiers have reached a point where they must stop and wait until dark before resuming their journey. They risk being caught if they go any further while there is still light. Suraj and Gurtu tie a splint improvised out of twigs onto Kabir's fractured leg.

It is dawn. The three soldiers have stopped to rest by the side of a path winding through the mountains. Kabir and Gurtu are asleep; Suraj is sitting huddled next to them. He sees something far below him in the valley. He rises, then wakes up Gurtu and asks him to take a look. They strain their eyes. They cannot believe what they are seeing. It is an Indian army outpost with the Indian Flag raised above it. They cheer, scream, and laugh in jubilation. But when Gurtu tries to rouse Kabir, he falls limply to one side. He is dead. With nothing else left to do, Suraj and Gurtu bury Kabir in the snow and walk on towards the Indian side of the border. It is about a few hundred yards away.

Major Suraj Singh calls out to the Indians, but he has been a prisoner for six years. As he calls for help, his voice stammers and fails many times. The Indians simply do not or cannot hear him.

Gurtu is looking at Suraj over the distance. His face has a look of peace. He appears dead. Suraj has reached the Indian side. He slowly stands up and looks ahead. He is home. He looks at the soldiers and at the flag above them. He is too overcome by emotion to say even a word. The Indians see a man in Pakistani army uniform before them. Suraj raises his right hand as if reaching for the flag. Then the Pakistanis fire one shot, which goes through Suraj's heart. He falls to the ground and dies.

Epilogue

It is now 2007. The place is Multan Jail in Pakistan. We see an old man walking in the prison compound. He has made five little mounds of earth and he is putting a few flowers on them. He sits on the ground next to them and leafs through what was once Major Suraj Singh's prison diary. This old man is Gurtu. He now has only two motives in his life: to hope to return home and to keep alive the memory of his five friends.

The screen now blurs, and a Voice over informs us that there are still 54 Indian POW's of the 1971 and the 1965 Indo Pak wars who are languishing in Pakistani Jails. They were last seen alive in 1988. Copies of original letters posted by them come up as the credits Roll

Cast

• Manoj Bajpayee as Major Suraj Singh
• Ravi Kishan as Capt. Jacob
• Piyush Mishra as Maj. Bilal Malik
• Deepak Dobriyal as Flight Lt. Gurtu
• Chittaranjan Giri as Ahmed
• Manav Kaul as Flight Lt. Ram
• Kumud Mishra as Capt. Kabir
• Vivek Mishra - Col. Shaharyar Khan
• Gyan Prakash as Col. Puri
• Bikramjeet Kanwarpal as Col. Shakoor
• Sanjeev Wilson as Maj. Azzam baig
• Satyajit Sharma as Commander of the Indian checkpost

Music

1. Kaal Ke Antim Palon Tak – Kailash Kher
2. Saajana (Film Version) – Harshdeep Kaur
3. Sehlenge Hum Saare Sitam – Shibani Kashyap
4. Sada Bhangda Paun Nu – Kailash Kher
5. Sajna Arabian Sunrise (Remix) – Harshdeep Kaur
6. Bhangra Pauna (Remix) – Kailash Kher

External links

• 1971 at IMDb
• A Review of 1971
• 1971 – Review
• 1971 – Preview
• 1971 Review