User Reviews

Ashutosh Gowariker retells the astounding true story of the Chittagong uprising of 1930. Led by a fiery school teacher, a band of 64 revolutionaries, most of them school-going teenagers, launched five simultaneous attacks on British strongholds in Chittagong including the cantonment area and the telegraph office Ashutosh recreates this largely forgotten event with sincerity and sweat but unfortunately Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey comes off a high school history lesson: plodding, stilted and in long stretches.

The film's entire first half is the set-up to the event the nuts and bolts of planning a revolt, getting enough investment, planning and co-ordinating each step. Ashutosh introduces us to half a dozen characters but the screenplay doesn't adequately flesh out even one.

The second half has more urgency and momentum and climaxes in the inevitably tragic but rousing finale.The dialogue is always lofty and theatrical and the actors are insistently noble. Abhishek Bachchan, who plays the leader Surjya Sen, is in sober, benevolently smiling mode. We get little hint of the fire in his belly.

This is a great effort to bring such hidden subject in front of us but if you like fast paced cinema then its not your type of movie.

If you love good cinema,watch it. My vote 7 out of 10.

The intermission of this nearly three hour film serves as an automatic marker at how Gowariker planned the narrative, the first half being the introduction, characterization and planning stage that we get to witness going behind any schemes of this nature of an armed struggle, where the definition of whether one is a terrorist or freedom fighter, is naturally decided in context by the victor in history. A lot of time goes into establishing the character of Masterda Surya Sen, played by Abhishek Bachchan as the school teacher who indoctrinates his class, and other followers of his exploits, into the need to drive the British out and to attain freedom for India, starting with Chittagong (present day located in Bangladesh).

In some ways this film has shed some light that those who persist in armed struggles, never really changed the essence of their modus operandi much. It starts off with a charismatic leader and his ideology, a band of faithful followers, and a mass recruitment of those who have faced the wrong end of oppression, eager to join the cause to exact some form of revenge, now elevated to a greater struggle for something way above the petty personal objectives. We observe how resources get assembled, from the raising of funds through whatever means possible, even if it means in kind instead of cash.

Target surveillance becomes the must do as well in order to prepare for that strategic attacks, and from what we can learn from history, simultaneous attacks on key targets isn't something that's conceived in the new era, but has been used a long time back, with the revolutionaries keeping in mind the importance of timing, and to hit places controlling communications, weapons depot, and of course the places where the foreigners congregate. There's this sense of chill when watching the film, because these are lessons obviously not learnt, and it's about time we wise up to see that the jungle too serves as an attractive training ground away from prying eyes and ears either to train on weapon handling, or to assemble explosives.

But for the gripping set up, the second half turned out to be somewhat of a letdown, and I do not mean what had actually happened in history, which of course cannot be changed lest this film becomes a farce. There were enough elements here that made it the action packed second half it was meant to be, with the firing of weapons and the proverbial Murphy paying the revolutionaries a visit and really screwing up their plans. All these translated to edge of your seat excitement worthy of any thriller, and we see how the execution of the plan turn the perpetrators from hunters into prey.

A lot of things got muted in the movie, which is something not quite typical of an Ashutosh Gowariker film. Known for the opulence and grandeur of his productions, this one seemed a little bit toned down and stripped down to reflect the state of the revolutionaries, being required to work with bare minimum resources, and with faulty intelligence as well, being caught off guard in their plans, especially the more critical factors in ammunition and prisoners / hostages. It's quite back to basics for Gowariker, whom I felt if given the allowance for a longer runtime like almost all his previous works, could have told a more complete and robust story.

Abishek Bachchan performed credibly as the legendary historical character, although the storyline, in having a number of notable revolutionaries to focus on, tended to dilute the importance of his character, and hence an opportunity for him to shine. Deepika Padukone plays Kalpana Dutta, also another historical character, and the much talked about scene is of her character playing badminton in her introduction was relatively short to begin with. The actress continues to be paired opposite big name counterparts, but is able to hold her own without being awed. There's some romantic tension between the two lead characters here, though it served more as a distraction and soon got canned before it even had the chance to start.

As it stands, most of the last act turned out to be quite rushed, with fairly little being given to characterization, opting instead for quick resolution often through action sequences which do get tired after a while. Englishmen all play the token bad guys, and we don't see a lot as to how nasty they actually are, as compared to the oppression dished out by those portrayed in Lagaan. The courtroom drama also seemed to be cursory rather than to provide for a platform, and lacked the usual legalese oomph to have made an impact to an audience, having everything seem a little bit routine, well, even if it may be true in real life. Music by Sohail Sen, who had worked on the previous Gowariker film What's Your Rashee, is commendable, especially its rousing themes that will get to grow on you.

This is Ashutosh Gowariker's equivalent of Braveheart or any other freedom fighters' struggle to gain freedom for their motherland, but we could all have benefited from a little bit more of walking around inside Masterda Surjya Sen and going deeper into his beliefs and motivation. While it's still an epic scale and its presentation of the opening credits mimics that of epic greats, it somehow didn't manage to live up to its potential that we know Gowariker is capable of, and this is coming from a fan.

This movie is definitely an eye opener for those who think that Bollywood is the place of brainless comedies , over hyped romances & sensationalized media exposure , because this movie opens our eyes to a struggle never heard before.

I myself have heard about Surya Sen's freedom struggle , only in class VIIIth standard , when I decided to go deep into it . Through Internet , I heard about this struggle being converted into a great film , "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey." It's another masterpiece of Ashutosh sir , but sadly in India , we don't have creativity & the readiness to accept change & like , Swades , a great masterpiece of India , is ignored by all .

What is the similarity between "The King's Speech" & this movie ? Both were based on historical events. While the former was based on the battle of King George VIth with his speech problem , the latter was based on the Great Chittagong Armory Raid in 1930 , but both the films had different fates.

While King ruled the Oscars , Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey failed to ring the cash registers at the box office. But leaving the negativities of Bollywood , a supreme hats off to Ashutosh sir !!

It may be not a good movie or i would say justice was not done with the production but somehow it made me to write few words for this. Why? The question is simple as well as the answer. I am always a fan of all these freedom fighters who always kept the spark. Many people consider Ghandi and Jinnah for the Indo-pak freedom but i whole heartedly believe it were the people like Surey sen, whom ideas were the main cause of todays free India and Pakistan. The list is full of heroes, whom we are proud today. Being a Pakistani i always have a great respect for all those great freedom fighters because of whom we are enjoying the independence today. Bhagat Singh, Surya sen, Bakht Khan, Mangal panday are all portrayed beautifully in the movies.

Yet an unsung hero is still to show up on a big screen, The brave Pathan freedom fighter Sher Ali Afridi who killed the Indian viceroy, Lord Miyo. This was the only unique case of killing a viceroy on Indian soil. I wish if his life story is taken in a movie depiction.

Over all the movie gives you a good feel of that times freedom struggle. I still recommend the movie as its watchable and touchy.

For me, Kheley Hum Jee Jaan Se will probably be the last time I am going to invest time and money in a Ashutosh Gowariker movie. It marks a very sad decline for someone regarded as one of India's finest directors not too many years back. While length had always been his weakness, his story telling has now become a joke. What started off in the laborious Jodhaa Akbar has reached the nadir in this movie – the story and screenplay lack any drama, any sense of cinema or emotional highs and lows.

The story of the Chittagong uprising of 1930, a forgotten chapter of our freedom struggle – when revolutionaries under Surya Sen tried to make an example out of Chittagong. They decided to rid Chittagong of all Britishers by taking out five key targets in one audacious night – the telegraph office, the police lines armory, the railway tracks, the European Club and the British Army Cantonment. And if you watch the movie, you will realize how agonizingly close they came to rewriting history of British India.

And I do have to concede - even with his failings as a moviemaker, Ashutosh Gowarker has to be applauded for bringing this forgotten story to light. Because of it, I have a new sense of respect for all those who gave up so much for the fight to free this country. But ironically, I got it not from the movie but only from the end credits - where the photos of all the people who were involved in the Chittagong uprising makes the events of the movie spine-chillingly real. The biggest emotional surge for me came towards the end of the credits when I read the name of some Bengali gentleman who is still living in Bangladesh ! Alive, 80 years after the event !

Kheley Hum Jee Jaan Sey is in two distinct parts. The first part shows all the planning that went into the raids and how the group of rebels got together. The second half shows the actual raid and the aftermath of the raids as the British ruthlessly hunted down every one of the conspirators. The planners of the raid were Surya Sen and couple of his friends. Together they trained and inducted into his plans some 50 odd teenagers, mostly students, for the attack.

Did Surya Sen misuse his position as a teacher to whitewash impressionable minds into the rebellion? The movie doesn't even consider the question relevant – everything is clearly black and white and Masterda Surya Sen never did anything wrong.

In the first half, we are introduced to innumerable number of characters, without any depth or detail on any of them. Even Abhishek Bachhan as Surya Sen seems unreal. He is always straight-faced and speaks only in a measured tone. He has always the right things to say, his shirt is always crisp white and he composure remains unruffled in most situations. Though his actions seem to suggest there is a fire in his belly, one sees no other visible signs of it anywhere. Deepika, with her size-zero, looks completely out of place in the movie – and quite frankly I didn't think this movie needed a leading lady or any romantic angle.

The bad characterization is compounded by the absolute lack of any drama in the screenplay. I have seen documentaries with more emotional highs and lows than this movie. Emotional scenes are wretchedly handled, everything happens with an unreal sense of detachment – as if each actor was gnawing away with doubt about the lines he/she was spouting on the screen. Some actions of a lot of characters are completely unexplained – and things fall into place for the revolutionaries in remarkably convenient ways till the night of the actual assault.

Such a white-washed version of history is a little hard to digest for any intelligent audience – ironically the very same audience this movie is trying to entice. The characters fail to make any connection with the audience because they do not show much more depth than cardboard cutouts. The movie also drags on for the mandatory 3 hours of an Ashutosh Gowariker production. And frankly, the entire second half dedicated to the pursuit and capture of the revolutionaries was quite depressing – it could have been given much less screen time. All it did was to serve as a vehicle to showcase melodramatic deaths of some of the characters. Instead of focusing on their lives

This is a true story.

In the year 2001, a seventeen-year old boy discovered cinema. He started understanding the difference between the crap that had dominated the popular cinema of his consciousness, the cream of the crap that had resulted in some blockbusters, and the rare cinema rooted in aesthetics of the craft. One important lesson was to understand how 'sound' matters in a movie, among many other big and small mantras he picked up from that textbook of a movie. The final and the most essential lesson was how passion, in fact lunacy, was essential for making a truly immortal film.

The movie that taught the young boy this, went on to win the hearts of people all over the globe. Today, it is considered as one of the landmark films of Hindi cinema. This boy, struck by the achievement and short-sighted by faith, had exclaimed among his movie-crazy friends: "In the next ten years, we are going to have at least five Academy nominations, and two wins!" More than nine years have passed. The boy is now 26. He is waiting no more. He has lost all hope. He has lost his faith.

'Satya' was the film that planted in me the seeds of film-making passion. But I started learning the art with 'Lagaan'. The first foreign-language films I watched were 'No Man's Land' and 'Amelie', because they were in competition with 'Lagaan', and thus I discovered world cinema. I used to follow every word that Gowariker said those days, and thus, following his inspiration, I discovered Guru Dutt, V. Shantaram, and Bimal Roy. The film was followed by a documentary on its making, titled 'Chale Chalo: The Lunacy of Film Making'. I went to watch that in a theatre, covering a long distance by bus, alone.

'Lagaan' had the tagline: Once Upon a Time in India. I never knew it meant something like this can only happen once! To be fair to Ashutosh Gowariker, I do not expect him to re-create something as wonderful as 'Lagaan', or even 'Swades' for that matter. I accepted the flaws of 'Jodha Akbar' and the flaw called 'What's Your Rashi?' with a smile, understanding, as he says, why he made these movies. But this time, I am left disappointed, and angry. You taught me Sir, the importance of correct sound in cinema. Why then, is the sound (including the background score) of this latest film of yours so terribly done? Why have your characters lost themselves to stars, or incompetence of the cast, or your complacence? I remember you had promised this film would be shorter. By your standards, 2 hours 45 minutes is short. But when are you going to realize that each film should be completed within the time that best suits its purpose? I refuse to believe that your passion and your 'lunacy of film-making' remains the same. And that, Sir, is a crime, especially for you than anyone else.

This is a true story. Ashutosh Gowariker is no more among my favourite film-makers. Unfortunately, he has managed to instill an insecurity and fear in me. I am no more worried about my success in this industry. I am afraid of being destroyed post that success, by my own complacency and errors of judgment, and by the loss of the purity and passion I earned through cinema.

People r complaining about the length of the movie.....movie being bore.....what they expected from this movie???? a 90 minutes fast paced brainless comedy.....as far as i m concerned i expected a engaging,gripping depiction of a true story about a incident in history of independence of India which is not very well known to most of the public....and i was not disappointed.... In fact movies of this genre are meant to be made in this way....they take there time to narrate various incidents.Various Hollywood movies like Schindlers List, The pianist etc were the movies of same genre telling the true stories from the history and there running time was more than KHJJS and they are regarded as all time masterpieces in west but unfortunately the same type of effort in our country will be stated as lame and boring. This a must watch movie for all the cine goers who prefer meaningful,informative and gripping cinema..... 8.5/10

Ashutosh Gowariker is a talented Storyteller. His Oscar-Nominated Epic-Hit 'Lagaan' was amongst the best films of it's time, 'Swades' was a touching film, that has now become a cult-classic. 'Jodhaa Akbar' was another milestone he churned out. 'What's Your Raashee?', however was a letdown.

'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey', also isn't Gowariker, at his best. This period piece/patriotic has a strong first hour, but a long & weak second hour, spoil it's impact.

Based on the Chittagong Uprising of 1930, 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey' tells the story of Surjya Sen, a prominent Bengali freedom fighter, an Indian independence activist and the chief architect of anti-British freedom movement in Chittagong, Bengal, who, with his people created a revolution, that eventually let India get independence.

As mentioned, the first hour is absolutely terrific. The entire build-up to the revolution keeps you at the grip. But, the second hour plays a spoilsport. Also, the excessive running-time of over 3 hours, needed some trimming. Even the climax for that matter, doesn't leave the desired impact.

Ashutosh Gowariker knows his job, and he has proved his caliber as a filmmaker time and again. He directs each frame with the accurate detail, but the weak writing in the second hour, pulls him down. Cinematography is outstanding! Editing needed to be sharper. Music by Sohail Sen is passable.

Performance-Wise: Abhishek is efficient as Surjya Sen. Deepika Padukone does an okay job. Sikander Kher is fair, while Vishakha Singh is sincere. Mahinder Singh is good. Shreyas Pandit is flawless. Others lend good support.

On the whole, A One-Time Watch, that could've been much more, if it had a better second hour.

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is an honest and sincere effort by Ashutosh Gowarikar put together with a lot of hardwork. Now, a lot of the times, such efforts may not work out on the screen but in the case of this movie, it results in a great piece of cinema.

Before going to the movie, I was discussing about the young deaths which had occurred during India's freedom struggle. Some one like Bhagat Singh was only 23. The film starts with youngsters playing football and the British taking over their play ground. All through the first half, a lot of screen time is dedicated to these youngsters.

It is important to understand the Ashutosh Gowarikar style of film making here. He is a director who likes to make the audiences feel his films and he does it by etching out a screenplay which has a pace of it's own. A lot of people find it slow but if it was faster, you wouldn't get the time to not only realise, but to absorb and understand the dreams and aspirations of the people on screen.

The story of the Chittagong uprising is one of the less popular epsiodes of the Indian freedom struggle So it is great that Gowarikar has brought this story into the mainstream. Through the movie, you feel regarding and remember not only the freedom fighters of the Chittagong uprising but all the unnamed people who took it upon themselves to fight to free India. A son tells his father that they will not sell imported clothes any more, a mother gives his son Rs. 100 to contribnute to the freedom struggle and it is about the sacrifices (small or large) of the common man who wants India free. The teenagers who fought in the Chittagong uprising were as common as they come. You see scene after scene of these young freedom fighters. It is really a homage to the many, many Indians who wanted India free and contributed towards that end.

When the film ends, photographs of the people who fought in the Chittagong uprising are shown side by side with that of the actors who depicted them. A lot of them are very similar in not just the fact that they wore spectacles but even in the hairstyles. It is testament to the amount of detail which has gone into making this film. That detail is scene every where in the film whether it be in the way the characters dress, the sets or the sceneries. In the second half landscapes of Bengal are recreated when the freedom fighters are on the run and it is really very well done. 8/10.

I was really excited when the film was announced to be released. For being my native land, Chittagong is the city where I always belong to. Since our childhood, we worship great sons of our soil where Masterda Surya Sen is the greatest of all. The man and his disciples were legend of our history as well as the history of India Independence Movements. Masterda took the way to fight against British colony not only for Chittagong but he dreamt the freedom of the whole motherland, the undivided India. So, he is the hero of all India. I respect the Director Ashutosh Gowariker for his previous films, mostly the historical. So, my expectations were a little bit high for this film, which is the actual tale of our landscape. But I felt disappointing after watching it. I'll not comment on the location and landscapes where the shooting was done. Although Goa and Chittagong - both cities are with mountains and sea, but were not similarly toned in term of geographical and natural approaches. I don't know whether there were any research or documentation of the real place, structures or not but what we saw in the film, not familiar to me. The story of romance , love, passion within Surya Sen, Kalpana Dutt, Pritilata , Nirmal Sen were not heard by us in the historical books and documentations available in our country, some were also published from Calcutta, India. We read a very authentic book (published in Chitttagong ) on the Chittagong Armory Raid, named "Chittagong on Independence Movement", by Purnendu Dastidar. He was the partisan of Surya Sen, rebel and witness of the all significant events of Chittagong Uprising in 1930s. I met the person who is still alive Mr. Binod Bihary Chowdhury ( this year he is 103 years old) who was recruited by Masterda himself as rebel and he was wounded at the 'war of Jalalabad Hill'. Their slogan to free the motherland was 'Do and Die'. Masterda had chosen the word for desperately dedicating the life instead of 'do or die'. I know, the film is based on the book named with same title 'Do and Die' by Manini Chetarjee but I don't know where the events were found. I was hoping Mr. Binod would be invited at the premiere of the Cinema, because he is the last man standing who witnessed the actual event. Usually,no director will want to miss the chance at the moment of presenting the Story with its true participant. But Mr. Binod Bihari was ignored. May be, they have their reason.

The spirit and the patriotism were very present in the movie along with the glamour. But the history failed to enter in the visual contexts. And for the cast: whoever sees the Abhishek as Masterda, will understand the greater distance between the truth and the fiction. My views are not intended to hurt anybody,but my cries are for seeing our legend tale has been wasted at professional industrial hands.

While watching 'Khelein hum jee jaan sey' I felt Gowariker has not gonebeyond that book and neither done further research or took extra efforts to explore central characters like Surjit Sen and Kauolpana* Dutta at their personal level. Director had a lot of scope for that, for example, Surjya Sen was married and he is suffering from guilt that he is responsible for his wife's death or he was in jail before the revolution. Raoul Randolf and Gowariker could explore the character on these facts so that it could made primary conflict more strong. There are too many characters in the film; these characters are not properly defined .Madhur Bhandarkar who always manages to build many characters in his films like Page3, Corporate, Traffic signal and Fashion. I haven't read the book and I believed that one should never compare a book and cinema which is based on the book, both are very different experiences.

Gowariker had a chance to capitalise innocence of teenager against brutal fight for freedom, he succeed in one or two scenes but that was not enough.scenes where teenagers didn't know meaning of 'Vande Materam' and interview sessions between freedom fighters and teenagers.Narration is done by two different persons if one of the teenager could used for it then it would make an impact.

I remembered in 'Rang De basanti' where Binod Pradhan used Sepia tone to recreate old time, they wanted to distinguish two different time periods which is also possible in 'Khelein...." because 'Khelein....' happened within substantial time period. They could use non linear way of storytelling and built two different time period. One time period could be about how they execute the plan and other time period could be about how they sacrifice their lives and made major influence on freedom movement. David fincher has done this in 'The Social Network'.

Second half of the film is all about British hunts down all freedom fighters where it lacks drama element, British wanted to capture them dead or alive but later in the film suddenly British wanted to capture them alive and this question remained unanswered.

The film could ends with scenes like how Chittagong's revolution made positive impact on freedom movement, they concluded whole story in single note.

After making one of Bollywood's most expensive film "Jodha Akhbar', Ashutosh Gowariker returns with "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey". A story based on the 1930s Chittagong raids that started a revolution and eventually paved the way for India's Independence from the British Rule. It seems like Gowariker spent all his energy, money and creativity in 'Jodha Akbar' and whatever funds he had left went into the making of this mediocre fare. I must say knowing the directors previous work, I was very disappointed with this film. Apart from Abhishek Bachchan, who plays the hero Surjya Sen and couple of other unknown supporting players the acting is mediocre and I didn't care for much of the characters or what happened to them. One thing I keep seeing in Bollywood cinema is the lack of subtlety, everything is explained in detail and over the 3 hours it gets very boring. I know Gowariker is one of the best directors in Bollywood and I can let this pass, but his lack of passion and creativity really showed in this film. Hopefully he will redeem himself with his next film based on the life of Siddhartha. I gave this film two stars, one for the last ten minutes of the film. It's inspiring and emotionally charged but it does not make up for the other two and a half hours of torture that preceded it. The second star is for Abhishek's performance. He really carries his characters inner turmoil and passion throughout the film. There is no question that the story is inspiring and worth telling, but he missed his mark this time. Gowariker could have just made a 90 min documentary and educated us. Skip this film and If you do end up seeing this, stay for the credits its worth waiting an extra two minutes, after all you just sat through 3 hours of passion-less film making. If you're really feeling patriotic then just pop in a DVD of his Oscar nominated film 'Lagaan'. In fact I am going to go do that right now, to remind myself of how good of a film maker Gowariker really is. ( for more honest, insightful, fun reviews of the latest movies visit THE-TICKING-TICKET! is the movie worth your time? www.tickingticket.blogspot.com )

Continuing with his craft of making movies on the literary works of renowned writers, Ashutosh returns to the Historical genre with his "KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SE" which surprisingly gets released without any great publicity in the media.

As a Historical movie on a lesser known, Independence movement of Chittagong witnessed in 1930. Looking at the movie from this angle, it is indeed a highly authentic depiction of the historical event of 1930 made with utmost honesty and sincerity. The story is about a team of few young Freedom Fighters allowing the help of more than 50 teenager boys in their violent freedom movement. Ashutosh has no doubt taken care of every little detail of that time and the people involved in it with a superb vision of his own. And along with that, we should be highly thankful to him, to enlighten us all about this hidden chapter of our Indian Independence movement which was not known to most of its viewers living in the Northern Region.

As an artistic project, the film is perfect with great art direction and cinematography, bringing the period of 1930 alive on the screen with near perfection. But I really wish the same perfection had been there in its writing department too which is too slow paced, lengthy and even uninteresting at regular intervals. The costume designing also is just limited to white kurtas being worn by almost everyone in the team and doesn't come up with a great show as required. The film starts at a very lazy note and never picks up in its entire first half, due to which the viewer loses his every hope to see anything great or exceptional from the director with a great line-up in the past. Post intermission too, though the narration picks up with all the action sequences unfolding on the screen, but still its execution is certainly not anything close to Ashutosh's own set standards in his previous films.

The most annoying part of the movie is the portrayal of all the British Officials, who quite shockingly act and look like characters of some school or university stage play. Even the casting of all the actors posing as Britishers is way below the mark and overlooked.

Along with this, the other biggest failure of the film is that it is not able to generate the much needed patriotic feeling in the viewer, which should be a must in a film made on a real-life independence movement. Honestly, the only time I felt patriotic with blood running faster in my veins was when I saw the real pictures of the actual teenager freedom fighters lying dead on the ground (shown in the end credits).

Reviewing KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SE on the basis of a movie experience alone is a hurting job as the film has got nothing to offer as far as entertainment is concerned to the audience. In clear words, for most of the viewers it may be quite painful to watch it right till the end.

Putting it differently, actually What a common viewer wishes to feel when he is going to watch a film made on a historical event of Indian Independence? He undoubtedly wants to feel the action, smell the gun powder and would like to give a standing ovation clapping loud at the end of the movie feeling proud to be a citizen of the current world power, India. That was the reason which converted both GADAR & LAGAAN into such big hits. Or on the other side, a film made on the Indian patriotic movement should be so sensitive and emotional that it should make every viewer in the theater go numb with wet eyes in the end as in SHAHEED & GARAM HAWA. Unfortunately, KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SE can neither be called as a powerful uplifting movie nor as an emotional enriching experience.

Musically its again a weak soundtrack chosen by the director for his film which ideally should have been a song less movie as per the requirement of its theme. The Background music too is not so engrossing which can take a particular sequence to a different level. Amusingly the "Vande Matram" song running with the end credits made me remember the decades old song from ANANDMATH 1952)which still remains the most inspiring melody composed with the patriotic words of VANDE MATRAM.

Performance wise, KHJJS has some appreciable performances coming from its entire supporting cast other than the lead pair. The whole supporting team of Abhishek along with all the young teenager actors, surely deserves praises for their effortless acts in the film. However I couldn't applaud the casting choices made by Ashutosh in his current project for his lead pair, since both Abhishek and Deepika were not looking great in their out of the routine roles. With quite few scenes in the movie, Deepika is not able to take away the glamour off her face. Still I found her much better than all her previous movies since her debut film. On the other hand, there is a vast difference in the charactersation of Abhishek in pre and post interval of the movie. And for this the blame should actually go to his director.

So as a conclusion, KHJJS cannot be rated as one of the best works of anyone in its entire team including the actors, writers and the director. However, only the ART DIRECTOR can proudly use this movie in his repertoire at the top and it can also be applauded as a pure ORIGINAL in the present Hindi Films scenerio dealing with Inspirations from the West.

Ending on an entertaining note, I still rate the use of "DOGS AND INDIANS NOT ALLOWED" by Manmohan Desai in his Amitabh Bachchan starrer MARD as the best way of addressing the issue on the wide screen.

Once again Ashutosh brings us in a era of his Dream..throughout the movie you can relate yourself with the heart touching sounds of vande-mataram. Not only for its patriotism and not just for your love for your country...there are a lot more reasons to watch this notable milestone..First of all its not always easy to handle a true historic event in such balanced manner...but Ashutosh did it great again...no need to worry that movie is based on Bengali...as Ashu sir knows that cinema is a media to reach out everyone...only a few accent gives it touch of Bangla...I don't no why people criticize Abhishek again and again but he is one of the unique actors in industry...if Ashu Sir, Mani sir and all big names in industry have trust in Him..what the hell this critics writing so much against him...Heads of to Abhishek for such excellent acting...Deepika is also making justice with the Role...and one of the finest acting by others..including Sikander, Vishakha and all the teenagers...That's all from my side go and watch this...a must watch...

Being a Bangladeshi, I have been brought up with the stories of revolutions. I got introduced to the legends of Masterda Surjosen and Khudiram far before those of Bhagat Singh and others.

The movie is more a storytelling than a drama. The directors work was not as catchy and heart-touching as in Lagaan. But still this movie can make you shed some tears as it ends.

It was a good work. If one needs to know the true history of Chittagong Armory robbery, this movie will do the job really well. If I look at it as a documentary rather than a film, Kelein Hum Jee Jaan Se does the job really well.

Though very little is knows about Surjosen as a person, there were still rooms for delving into his ideologies and personal life. There has been lots of characters in the movie, but with so little intro, the audience would hardly relate to any of them. given the fact that Kalpana Dutta and Preetilata Wadedar were among the most notable female revolutionaries of that time, the movie fails to do justice to their role.

Abhishek is still learning. Deepika even more. They never really looked like revolutionaries in the film. There was almost no charm in their characters that make a common person a legend. altogether, the viewer will neither freeze in thrill or jump in excitement as the story digs deeper.

The beginning is good. the way they tried their best to collect the resources to plan the attack were well knit. but as the film goes on, the director tries to fit in a lot of details in very short span. That makes the movie somewhat a collection of facts, than a theatrical experience.

if you are a lover of revolutionary movies, this is definitely the one for you. this movie is worth spending 3 hours of anybody's busy schedule.

finally, this tribute was due for long. it has been paid at last. I voted 10; couldn't resist. the legend of Masterda deserves nothing less than that.

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a movie about the Chittagong Armoury raid, that happened on April 18, 1930. The movie is very good as a movie, but as the rehash of a historical event which has its importance in the independence revolution of India, it is sadly a weak attempt from Ashutosh Gowariker. It has the things at right place, as a movie, but when a movie about a historical incident comes, the director has to pay attention to the real events that happened.Based on the book 'Do and die' by Manini Chatterjee, the movie slips away from the facts at several moments, even though it is a good work, as a film.

The movie starts with simple, yet awesome titles, and soon we are dragged into the Chotogram of 1930, a normal village of Bengal. Everything was fine there, until the British people capture an open ground, where the teenagers use to play football. And then, somebody suggests that if they can get their playground back, with the help of Surjyada, a Mathematics teacher in a school. Then we come to know that Surjyada and his friends Nirmal, Ambikada etc are revolutionaries who believe in the motto 'Do and Die'. Soon, the teenagers are bonded with the revolutionaries and they plan to fight against the britishers. Meanwhile, two young girls Preetilata and Kalpana also join the team.

Then they planned a raid on police lines Armoury, Cantonment, Telegraph office and Railway lines. They study the entire places, prepare well, and plans to execute it on 18 April, 1930. Everything goes fine, until they come to know that it was a 'Good Friday' and the britishers are not there. Also, they could capture only the guns, but bullets were not found there. Anyway ,they hoist a flag of India, and escape to the hills. They are then chasec by the army, many are killed and others are captured, and are finally sentenced to death or life imprisonment. The story is almost real, but the director wanted to give the story a gentle flavour, and he included light hearted romance between Nirmal and Preetilata, and one side infatuation of Kalpana with Surjyada, and also those football playing kids, fighting to British for their playground. Also, he added enough sentiments added in the movie, to make us wet our eyes at times. But what the makers could have done was to mention like 'This movie is based on the Chittagong Armoury Raid, and few events may vary from the real story.'

Coming to the movie, everybody has done good jobs. Abhishek Bachchan comes with a commendable performance after the commercially and critically dud, 'Raavan'. He is apt for Surjya's role and even he looks somewhat like the real Surjya Sen. His expressions are perfect. And I am happy to see Sikandar Kher on screen again, I always believed this guy has the talent in him, and he proved it again in this film. Deepika Padukone and Vishakha Singh look completely natural, and this will be a career booster for Vishakha Singh, after doing two forgettable movies in Tamil and one in Hindi. The rest of the cast is very good and everybody is perfect for their roles. Also, there is a strong chemistry between all of them that they look very good together on screen.

Sohail Sen has done an excellent job as the music composer of the film. All the songs are very good, and the BGM is also excellent. I guess Simaab Sen and Sohail Sen have worked together for BGM. The cinematography is fine.

On the whole, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a very good movie, It would have been a classic if the director did some more research on the historical events and facts. Anyway, don't miss it.

It is a favour that Ashutosh Gowarikar has done to all Indians by making this film based on a true story, especially if one views it against the odds of becoming a box office success. It is almost predictable that the chances of such a film being a box office success are rare, but films like this still needs to be produced, to perpetuate India's history and the struggle that its people underwent. Needless to say it is patriotism that must have led Ashutosh Gowarikar to make this film. He seems to be filling in the void left by Manoj Kumar, who had an extraordinary intuition of making films on love for one's country accompanied with not just commercial success but his films were soaked with memorable songs and music. Ashutosh has not reached those heights as yet, but he may get there eventually after having started with 'Swades' and now 'Khlein Hum Jee Jaan sey' (KHJJS), one would not mind to add his movie 'Jodha Akbar' to this genre. KHJJS had good location scenes and it was treat to see a clean and simple movie amidst the deluge of contemporary commercial Bollywood movies. Overall a 'must see' movie for all Indians.

This film was twelve years too early! It'd have definitely been successful had it released today. Abhishek Bacchan in one of his finest outings, the film brings to light a number of unsung heroes from India's struggle for independence. The pace and the screenplay are inconsistent, agreed, but the high-octane action and the inter-character drama more than make up for it. I don't know on which OTT is this film running presently, but I do hope that it gets its fair share of audience in some streaming service channel or the other. If it's brought back to internet discussions today, it'll certainly gain the status of a cult classic.

Sad that it failed whereas absolute garbage like Break Ke Baad, Anjaana Anjaani and I Hate Love Stories was successful that year (2010).