Afghanistan '76- a nation of orchards, peaceful vistas and strong mountain people. Or Afghanistan '06 - a nation of warlords, extremist Islam, deserts and widespread suffering. Are they two visions of a single country that, to quote Kipling, "the twain shall never meet"? While we may never,sadly, know the answer, the movie "Kabul Express" is a great way to look into contemporary Afghanistan, its people's suffering and courage and the twin ravages of war and famine inflicted on this once-beautiful and peaceful country.[ Though, I hasten to add, our vision of 'peace' might be tempered by merely two centuries of peace - warlords and war were a way of life for long before that there]
The story is simplicity itself - two journos(Warsi and Abraham) who visit Afghanistan to film a documentary and are waylaid / kidnapped by an escaping Taliban along the way. The Taliban warrior, initially portrayed one-dimensionally as pure evil, gradually acquires depth and, towards the end, one feels for the man.
So, too, are the Afghan police - initially overwhelmingly the good guys - whose later behaviour begs the question of whether black and white are ever clearly drawn in the world.The American journalist is just eye candy and has no real role to play escept as the trigger for the Taliban's outbursts and his eventual softening, as he sees his daughter in her.
The Paki border post , manned by two up-from-the-ranks subedars and one lieutenant, depicts the realities , or falsehoods, we are forced to live with every day. Having receved orders to seal the border, the lieutenant refuses to even accept, at his subedars' suggestion, that there might be Paki soldiers left behind in Afghanistan who might be making their way home after assisting the Taliban. This portrays the attitude of officialdom in Pakistan who refuse to accept their tacit and implicit support of the Taliban while the subedars' concern for their fellow-soldiers reflects ground realities and the truths that we blind ourselves to.
Without giving too much of the story away, let it suffice to say that the Talib commandeers the Indians' transport and tries to cross the border back into Pakistan. This journey is punctuated by oft-humourous exchanges between the Indians and the Talib - the one with Warsi insisting that Kapil was the greatest allrounder and the Talib refusing to accept any other than Imran was priceless and some moving exchanges between the Talib and the native driver regarding the Taliban's contribution, or lack thereof, to Afghnistan's state today.
Throughout, we are treated to glorious vistas of bleak landscapes, windswept and barren mountains, arid plains - in short, glorious scenery. I almost want to go there just to hike there.
Simultaneously, there are some really moving shots of crippled children( the victims of the 1000s of landmines sown during the wars) and begging widows ( forced to beg as they are not allowed to work in any other profession). As a tourism brochure / ground realities documentary, this takes the cake.
Warsi's comic timing is brilliant, Abraham looks and acts like excess baggage brought on to lure women to watch, the native driver and the Talib perform stellar renderings of their characters while the scenery, social situations and ground realities are spot on, at least from an Indian point of view.
My rating : 3.5 out of 5. A definite worth-a-watch.
Watch out for the road-blocking donkey!!! :)
The story is simplicity itself - two journos(Warsi and Abraham) who visit Afghanistan to film a documentary and are waylaid / kidnapped by an escaping Taliban along the way. The Taliban warrior, initially portrayed one-dimensionally as pure evil, gradually acquires depth and, towards the end, one feels for the man.
So, too, are the Afghan police - initially overwhelmingly the good guys - whose later behaviour begs the question of whether black and white are ever clearly drawn in the world.The American journalist is just eye candy and has no real role to play escept as the trigger for the Taliban's outbursts and his eventual softening, as he sees his daughter in her.
The Paki border post , manned by two up-from-the-ranks subedars and one lieutenant, depicts the realities , or falsehoods, we are forced to live with every day. Having receved orders to seal the border, the lieutenant refuses to even accept, at his subedars' suggestion, that there might be Paki soldiers left behind in Afghanistan who might be making their way home after assisting the Taliban. This portrays the attitude of officialdom in Pakistan who refuse to accept their tacit and implicit support of the Taliban while the subedars' concern for their fellow-soldiers reflects ground realities and the truths that we blind ourselves to.
Without giving too much of the story away, let it suffice to say that the Talib commandeers the Indians' transport and tries to cross the border back into Pakistan. This journey is punctuated by oft-humourous exchanges between the Indians and the Talib - the one with Warsi insisting that Kapil was the greatest allrounder and the Talib refusing to accept any other than Imran was priceless and some moving exchanges between the Talib and the native driver regarding the Taliban's contribution, or lack thereof, to Afghnistan's state today.
Throughout, we are treated to glorious vistas of bleak landscapes, windswept and barren mountains, arid plains - in short, glorious scenery. I almost want to go there just to hike there.
Simultaneously, there are some really moving shots of crippled children( the victims of the 1000s of landmines sown during the wars) and begging widows ( forced to beg as they are not allowed to work in any other profession). As a tourism brochure / ground realities documentary, this takes the cake.
Warsi's comic timing is brilliant, Abraham looks and acts like excess baggage brought on to lure women to watch, the native driver and the Talib perform stellar renderings of their characters while the scenery, social situations and ground realities are spot on, at least from an Indian point of view.
My rating : 3.5 out of 5. A definite worth-a-watch.
Watch out for the road-blocking donkey!!! :)
