Children of War (2014)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Children of War is based on the 1971 Bangladesh genocide which highlights the atrocities of Pakistan Army on Bangladeshis. The story is a work of fiction with background setting of real events taking place during the genocide. Various lives are captured in the movie to display the struggle of ordinary people under the Pakistani regime. A young couple getting separated where the husband (Indraneil Sengupta), a journalist is writing on Army's brutal acts and Bangladeshi independence and who refuses to toe the line with army generals. His wife (Raima Sen) is raped and imprisoned in a rape camp. There is another story of a small kid and his sister, the only inhabitants of their village, and the quest of the brother to safely transport his sister to Indian border.The movie is a half attempt to capture the terrifying events which occurred during Bangladesh independence. Pavan Malhotra, does justice to his role of a Pakistani Colonel along with other cast. I feel Farooque Sheikh's role has been a mis-cast and could have been done by a lesser gentlemanly character. In-spite of being a 168 min movie, there is less attention to detailing and all the references/ acts are cursory in nature. The movie could have been brilliant had it cut short the music and elongated scenes for a fast paced detailed story.

Not many film-makers have dared to make a film on 1971's Bangladesh war of independence, showcasing those nine long months of untold brutal killings, rapes, painful sufferings and hatred spread over the region resulting in a big genocide. The subject no doubt remains controversial involving the Pakistan military till date and therefore debutant director Mrityunjay Devrat truly deserves appreciation for making this extremely difficult choice of subject for his very first film boldly.However as far as the execution is concerned, at one end he positively displays a fine understanding of the subject, shot taking, ambiance and the art of extracting good performances from the cast skillfully. But on the other, falls short of creating the desired impact, missing the basic soul of the film, which has to be a focused, well written script delivering the content impressively. So, yes the film does score at various levels as a rare attempt in the War-genre, yet it fails to emotionally connect with the viewer largely, despite being based on a shocking & eye-opener theme of Bangladesh's struggle for freedom.Revolving around four fictional stories of that particular nine months connecting with each other, we have a journalist turning into a revolutionary after his wife's rape and kidnap, taking her into a prisoner's camp. A brother & sister, trying to cross the border into India, an old man leading his fellow villagers towards a safe passage and a rebel leader planning hidden attacks on Pakistani military men through his small revolutionary group. Beginning with an actual video footage of Mrs. Indira Gandhi (then Prime Minister of India), the film straight goes into the interconnected stories without properly explaining the basic premise of the massacre in any details (through a voice over or else). And this is what causes a big confusion in the minds of the young viewers who are not actually familiar of the shameful history in details. Incidentally I felt the same while hearing the whispers among some youngsters sitting on my adjoining seat, who were not at all aware of any of the names taken in the film like Mukti Bahini, Bhutto and Yahya Khan.So the less (or no) explanation of the factors actually responsible for the war becomes the first hindrance in the path of making a direct connect with the viewers. Plus it's the painfully long duration crossing 160 minutes of bloody sequences which becomes too much after a while, ruining its overall impact and seriousness altogether. Moreover, there is an imbalance visible in the chosen cast too wherein Pavan Malhotra, Raima Sen, Tillotama Shome and Riddhi Sen are exceptional in their respective roles but Victor Bannerjee is unable to leave an impact along with Indraneil Sengupta &Rucha Inamdar looking less intense and involved than required. Also the veteran Late Farooque Shaikh seems to be a complete misfit in the role of a violent rebel.In short, "CHILDREN OF WAR - Nine Months To Freedom" certainly has an important message to give through some of its upsetting; emotional sequences depicting the ruthless crimes committed against the innocent people, particularly the women. But unfortunately the film also suffers hugely due to a lengthy-uninteresting flow, weak script and inexpressive narration unable to convey the core message convincingly. It has some earnest performances well canned by a noteworthy cinematography, but also has a loud background score incorporating a rock feel unnecessarily. In other words the film is horrifically tense (working in parts), yet lacks the real depth which has to be the key feature of movies made on such thoughtful themes of War Crimes.And I seriously wish it had that satisfying execution to leave an everlasting impact (as generated by its promo), since similar war crimes are being committed even in 2014 (as per the latest news of Boko Haram) and many are still unaware of such humiliating, inhuman acts..........., living their own unaffected lives in the other parts of the world happily.

This film really start of well. Some of the scenes were really spine chilling. But as the story progress. It goes nowhere.This film start with an interview of Indira Gandhi and showing the India's point of view. And I kept waiting till the very end to watch some kind of participation by Indian army during the gorilla warfare and later during conventional warfare. But the film just seem to be getting lost. Instead we were watching prisoner stealing arms from Pakistani cantonment and giving to Mukti Bahini and again coming back to prison. Moving in and out just like moving in her balcony.Film just chose to show numerous rape and murder scenes in very detail instead of developing any story. All the 3 parallel stories generate lots of interest but end aimlessly. I liked the story of brother and sister story and their effort to reach Indian border. their experience of violence was well shown. But then suddenly changed tract to spiritual Goddess Durga and all lost its realism and effect. End of the story very predictable with bit of melodrama.This film had a great star-cast who performed really very well. But they completely wasted. At the end film says that there were more than 40,000 rapes committed by Pakistani Army. I thank God that director had only 160 minutes to make this film. Or-else he might tortured us showing 40,000 rapes in detail.Overall I would say very ordinary movie just one time watch if u have not of options.

The story unfolds the dark pages of history Most of it unknown to the new gen Compelling - A must watch Set in the 1970s, the film follows three separate stories during the Bangladesh War, during which time thousands of women were raped and millions of people were killed. As the film progresses towards its climax, the three stories begin to intertwine with one another This movie is an attempt to bring out the ugly truth about the war. It is an expression of the double standards of bystanders and those who continue to shut their eyes or say nothing today not wanting to shed light or stop to think about gruesome side to the war. This film is a small tribute to all those victims of this unparalleled barbarity