10 Bollywood films which spoke about terrorism
Last updated on - Feb 12, 2018, 17:04 ISTShare fbsharetwsharepinshare
01/1110 Bollywood films which spoke about terrorism
Bollywood often tries to make something different, like never seen before types. Apart from romance and comedy they also make films which are based on terrorism. These films are about or based on actual events, they are either live-action and/or documentary. Terrorism has been a part of the world since years now. Those who have suffered from the terrorist attacks know exactly how they must have felt. There are many movies that have been made on these topics and they did really good in the box office and were also critically acclaimed. It is a theme that Bollywood has often turned to in recent years, reflecting the reality that world faces. Almost every day we receive news from around the world regarding inhumane activities occurring and affecting innocent people. There is nothing new as it is a threat common people have been facing for the longest of time. Here are 10 films which were based on terrorism.
02/11The Attacks of 26/11
The film stars Sanjeev Jaiswal in his film debut, playing the role of terrorist Ajmal Kasab, with art direction by Uday Singh. It also features Nana Patekar in a pivotal role. The film was shot on real locations. Under the art direction of Uday Singh, a replica of Taj Hotel was created with a cost of ₹ 40 million. Varma auditioned 500 applicants and selected Sanjeev Jaiswal to play Ajmal Kasab, the prime accused terrorist in the 26/11 attack on Mumbai. Varma had also asked policemen to watch the 15-minute trailer of 'The Attacks of 26/11'. The film is restricted to the night of the incident and has focused on the happenings between 9 pm to 1 am when Kasab was caught. The shooting of the film completed on 10 December 2012 with last shot of the massacre at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station. The owner of Leopold Cafe plays himself in the film. The actors in the film have met the victims and research on the subject including the eyewitnesses, police statements, judgment, charge sheets and author Romil Saxena. The first song from ‘The Attacks of 26/11’ was released at the Leopold Cafe on 11 February 2013 at exactly the time when the terror attacks began on the cafe and Mumbai city. There are total 4 songs in the album. Ram Gopal Varma sang the song 'Nethutti Ruchi Mariginda' in the Telugu version of this film
03/11A Wednesday!
The film stars Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher. Set between 2 pm and 6 pm on a Wednesday, the film depicts an about-to-retire police commissioner (Anupam Kher) narrating a sequence of events that unfolded on a particular Wednesday. There does not exist any written record. The awareness of the incident exists only in his mind and in those of several individuals who were involved, willingly and unwillingly, and how those events affected the lives of all the concerned people. Mumbai police commissioner Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher), resting after a jog, describes in a voice-over that he is going to retire the following day. He goes on to describe the most challenging case he faced in his career. An unnamed man (Naseeruddin Shah) carries a travel bag, assumed to contain explosives, in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station and proceeds to hide the bag in the restroom of a police station opposite to the Mumbai Police headquarters. He then arrives on the rooftop of a building under construction where he has set up his base of operations, equipped with several sim cards, mobile phones, and other electronic gadgets. A phone placed under the bench rings once Arif and Jai are several feet away and an explosion occurs in which the three terrorists perish. Arif relays this information to Rathod, and the anonymous caller reveals he does not belong to any terrorist organization, and his plan was not to free the terrorists but to kill them. The caller sought to avenge all the terrorist attacks they had helped carry out in Mumbai and other major cities of India, specifically the 2006 Mumbai train bombings. His final demand is that the officers kill the fourth militant themselves or he would set off all five bombs in Mumbai. In response, Rathod orders indirectly to Arif and Jai to kill the fourth militant. In a voiceover, Rathod says the man told him his real name but he does not wish to reveal it since doing so would give away the man's religion. Rathod admits that he knew the caller was disturbed because of the insecure environment and the incompetence of the governing authorities, but he never imagined a common man would go to such lengths to achieve this end. He also notes that the facts of this incident cannot be found in any written record but only in the memories of those who actually witnessed it, and further acknowledges that although the incident has ambiguous moral significance, he personally feels that whatever happened, happened for the best.
04/11Haider
Shahid Kapoor played the lead and co-stars Tabu, Shraddha Kapoor, and Kay Kay Menon. Irrfan Khan appears in an extended special appearance. The film is both a modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet and an adaptation of Basharat Peer's memoir Curfewed Night, set amidst the insurgency-hit Kashmir conflicts of 1995 and civilian disappearances. Haider, a young student, and a poet, returns to Kashmir at the peak of the conflict to seek answers about his father's disappearance and ends up being tugged into the politics of the state. In 1995, during the insurgency in Kashmir, Hilaal Meer (Narendra Jha), a doctor based in Srinagar, agrees to perform an appendectomy on Ikhlaque, the leader of a pro-separatist militant group. To avoid detection, he performs the surgery at his house, much to the chagrin of his wife Ghazala (Tabu), who questions his allegiance. The following day, during a military raid, Hilaal is accused of harbouring terrorists. A shootout ensues at his home, during which Ikhlaque is killed and Hilaal is taken away for questioning. The doctor's house is bombed subsequently to kill any other militant hiding inside. Several days later, Hilaal and Ghazala's son, Haider (Shahid Kapoor), returns from Aligarh Muslim University to seek answers about his father's disappearance. Upon arrival, he is shocked to find his mother singing and laughing along with her brother-in-law, Khurram (Kay Kay Menon). Unable to understand his mother's behaviour, he begins searching for his father in various police stations and detention camps with the help of his childhood sweetheart Arshia Lone (Shraddha Kapoor), a journalist. He is reminded of his mother's words that "revenge only results in revenge" and thus decides to let Khurram live. Khurram begs Haider to kill him to free him from the burden of guilt and to avenge his father's death, but Haider doesn't oblige Khurram, instead ignores him and leaves.
05/11Fanaa
Aamir Khan plays the role of a tourist guide in New Delhi who goes by the name Rehan Khan and Kajol plays a blind Kashmiri woman, Zooni Ali Beg. Both fall in love but are separated by a terrorist attack that reportedly kills Rehan. It is later revealed that he was not killed but is, in fact, a Kashmiri insurgent, Rehan Qadri, and the mastermind behind the attacks. Seven years later, his organization, known as the "IKF", sends him on a mission in Kashmir, where he once again, in a strange fate, meets Zooni. Zooni Ali Beg (Kajol) is a blind Kashmiri woman who travels for the first time with a dance group to New Delhi to perform in a ceremony for Republic Day. On her journey, she meets Rehan Qadri (Aamir Khan), a Casanova tour guide who flirts with her. Although her friends warn Zooni about him, she cannot resist falling in love. On her last night in Delhi, Rehan and Zooni spend the night together and end up in bed. Zooni finds her father's body later, and when she tries to tell Rehan, he covers. However, Zooni later sees the news report and finds the trigger. She takes her son and the trigger and goes to the officer's house. When she finds blood there, she radios for help and gets in touch with Tyagi, who tells her to stop Rehan at any cost. Rehan arrives at the house the next day and tries to convince Zooni to hand over the trigger. Zooni and her son later visit the graves of both her father and Rehan, who are buried next to each other. When the son asks if his father was wrong, Zooni tells him that his father did what he thought was right. Both tell Rehan that they love him before leaving.
06/11Baby
The film stars Akshay Kumar in the lead role, along with Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Madhurima Tuli and Rasheed Naz in supporting roles. The story follows the last mission of Baby; which is a temporary task force headed by Feroz Khan (Danny Denzongpa) formed in response to the 2008 Mumbai attacks whose job is to find and eliminate terrorists who are planning attacks in India. While attempting to rescue a fellow Indian security agent in Turkey, Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar) captures a traitor Jamal (Karan Anand) who formerly worked under Ajay and threatens to kill his family unless he gives them the information about their terror attack plans on India. Ajay is told about a terrorist plot to cause a bomb blast in a Delhi mall which he and Jai (Rana Daggubati) are able to prevent. In the process, they learn that this was only the first, of a series of massive attacks that had been planned. Pakistan based terrorist mastermind, Maulana (Rasheed Naz), is causing trouble near the India-Pakistan border. He plans and executes a daring prison escape plan for Bilal Khan (Kay Kay Menon). A team of officers is dispatched to interrogate Taufiq who is an ISI agent posing as a local Muslim leader. As per the information was given by Wasim, Feroz sends Ajay, Jai (Rana Daggubati) and Shukla (Anupam Kher) to meet their deep asset Ashfaq (Mikaal Zulfiqar) in Saudi Al-Dera where Bilal Khan is holding meetings to discuss the funding and execution of their plans. Ajay and Jai crack into Bilal's room with the help of Shukla and manage to kill Bilal. As they are about to return, they find that Maulana is also at the suite. Maulana was finally brought to India.This was kept as a secret. And then after 6 weeks of interrogation by Indian Army in Srinagar, he was kill.The trial run was successful and Baby was given permanent status.The team celebrates it.
07/11Neerja
The film features Sonam Kapoor as the title character, with Shabana Azmi, Yogendra Tiku and Shekhar Ravjiani in supporting roles. The plot centers on the Libyan-backed Abu Nidal Organization's hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan, on 5 September 1986. The film is shown from the point of view of the flight's head purser, Neerja Bhanot, who thwarted the hijack attempt by alerting the pilots, thus grounding the plane; Bhanot died trying to help save 359 of the 379 passengers and crew on board. The film opens with 22-year-old Neerja Bhanot (Sonam Kapoor) arriving late for a house party. Later that evening, her mother Rama Bhanot (Shabana Azmi) expresses concern about Neerja's job as a flight attendant, suggesting that Neerja should return to her old modeling career. Neerja insists on keeping her job. She is driven to the airport by her friend Jaideep (Shekhar Ravjiani). As Neerja boards Pan Am 73, it is revealed that the Abu Nidal organization, a Libyan-sponsored terrorist group, plans to hijack the plane in Karachi. The plane takes off from Mumbai's Sahar International Airport and lands in Karachi, where the four Abu Nidal terrorists, disguised as security officers escorting a Libyan diplomat, hijack the plane. Neerja quickly alerts the cockpit, and the three American pilots escape through the overhead hatch, fleeing to the terminal under fire from the hijackers. The American pilots had just enough time to escape, as the hijackers did not realize that the cockpit of a Boeing 747 is located upstairs. The panicking hijackers begin shooting down passengers indiscriminately; at great peril to her own life, Neerja opens the rear door and deploys the chute, directing passengers out of the plane. Choosing to let the passengers escape first, Neerja is fatally shot by the terrorists when she tries to shield young children from the gunfire. The film ends with a tribute to Neerja, who was eventually honoured posthumously with the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest military decoration awarded for peacetime valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice.
08/11Fiza
The film stars Karisma Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, and Jaya Bachchan. The film is about a girl Fiza (Karisma Kapoor), whose brother, Amaan (Hrithik Roshan), disappears during the 1993 Bombay riots. Fiza and her mother Nishatbi (Jaya Bachchan) desperately hold on to the hope that one day he will return. However, six years after his disappearance, Fiza, fed up with living with uncertainty, resolves to go in search of her brother. Driven by her mother Nishatbi's fervent hope and her own determination, Fiza decides to use whatever means she can—the law, media, even politicians—to find her brother, which brings her into contact with various characters and situations. When she does find him, to her horror she sees that he has joined a terrorist group. She forces him to come home, and he finally re-unites with their mother. However, his allegiance and thoughts make him want to return to the terrorist network, led by Murad Khan (Manoj Bajpayee) who apparently is a Muslim but is a bad human with no religion in reality. A confrontation with two men who harass Fiza leads to Aman revealing his involvement with the terrorist network in front of his sister, mother, and the police. His mother's grief and disappointment eventually lead her to commit suicide. Fiza tries once more to find her brother, with the help of Aniruddh (Bikram Saluja). Amaan has been sent on a mission to kill two powerful politicians; when he does succeed in assassinating them, his own terrorist group tries to kill him. He escapes and Fiza follows him. They confront each other and with the police closing in on him, he asks her to kill him. As a last resort to give him an honourable end, Fiza kills her brother.
09/11Black Friday
The film is based on ‘Black Friday – The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts’, a book by Hussain Zaidi about the 1993 Bombay bombings. On 9 March 1993 a small-time thug, Gul Mohammed, is detained at the Nav Pada police station and confesses to a conspiracy underway to bomb major locations around the city. The police dismiss his confession and, three days later, Bombay is torn apart by a series of explosions leaving 257 dead and close to 1,400 injured. Investigators discovered that the bombs were made of RDX, smuggled into the city with the aid of customs officials and the border police. In turn, the film traces the motive for the blasts to the Bombay riots, the bloody warring between the Hindu and Muslim communities from December 1992 to January 1993, which left over 1500 people dead. The Bombay riots were an unprecedented outburst of violence and abuse, resulting in enormous emotional trauma and property loss. Tiger Memon (Pavan Malhotra) is an underworld don whose office is burnt to cinders during the riots. The suffering of the Muslim minorities in the riots incites a meeting of underworld leaders in Dubai, who then take it on themselves to seek retribution. Tiger Bhai (as Tiger Memon is called) one of the chief inflamed suggests an attack on Bombay as the strongest message of retaliation, thus leading to Black Friday 12 March 1993. Then on 5 August 1994, Tiger's brother, Yaqub Memon, willingly turns himself into the authorities. In a candid Newstrack interview on national television, Yaqub states that it was Tiger and his underworld associates who orchestrated the conspiracy.
10/11Sarfarosh
Aamir Khan, Naseeruddin Shah and Sonali Bendre in lead roles. John started working on Sarfarosh in 1992. Seven years were spent on the research, pre-production, and production till it finally released in 1999. The film deals with an Indian police officer's quest to stop cross-border terrorism. The film was released at the time of the Kargil conflict when tensions between India and Pakistan were high. Arms trafficking is taking place in India. An arsenal enters Indian territory via the state of Rajasthan, which makes its way to the interior of India with help of many middlemen. Bala Thakur, a gun handler in Chandrapur, provides the arms to Veeran, a forest-dwelling brigand. Later, Veeran and his gang attack a wedding bus, mercilessly gunning down every person in it which includes women and children. The government appoints a Special Action Team in Mumbai to trace the roots behind the attack. The team learns about Bala Thakur, but thanks to his informants, Thakur flees before he can be apprehended. In retaliation, Ajay makes him realise that his actions are not benefiting people of any religion. After Ajay makes him see the error in his ways, Gulfam, unable to stand the humiliation and guilt, commits suicide. Gulfam's suicide is hushed up and the team returns triumphant to Mumbai to many accolades for busting the terrorist racket. At Mumbai Airport, Salim is tipped on the whereabouts of Veeran and Ajay embarks on another investigation with his team.
