The Hero: Love Story of a Spy

<p>Arun Khanna is an army intelligence officer working for the Indian Secret Service agency (RAW) who has been sent to the . Under the identity of Major Ravi Batra, he sets up a spy network to obtain information about Pakistani terrorist activities across the border. In a nearby village, he meets Reshma, an orphan. Reshma joins the network to help Batra, and they fall in love. He reluctantly sends her into Pakistan to work as an undercover maid in Colonel Hidayatulla’s house. Hidayatulla is associated with head Isaq Khan and terrorist Maulana Azhar. Reshma begins passing information to Batra. Khan, Azhar, and a group of nuclear scientists meet Hidayatulla’s house, where they reveal plans to make a nuclear bomb for a terrorist attack in Kashmir. Reshma is exposed; she escapes and is chased but is saved by Batra and returns to India. Batra proposes marriage. Their engagement ceremony is cut short when terrorists attack. Reshma goes missing after falling into the river, and Batra is presumed dead. Batra realizes Khan and Azhar are responsible for the attack. He fakes his own death and plans to infiltrate their terrorist network. In disguise, he follows Khan and Azhar to and discovers they are planning to create a nuclear bomb. Reshma is found alive on the shore in Lahore, Pakistan, where she is rescued by Salman. She loses the ability to walk after learning about the deaths of Batra and her parents. Salman takes her to Canada for treatment under the care of doctor Shaheen Zakaria, the daughter of Muslim fundamentalist Mr. Zakaria, an associate of Khan. In a shopping mall, Reshma finds a muffler she had knitted for Batra, and realizes he is alive and in Canada. Batra changes his identity to that of a nuclear scientist named Wahid. To infiltrate Zakaria’s group, he wins Zakaria’s trust and marries Shaheen. Reshma sees Batra as Wahid at his wedding with Shaheen and recognizes him. Batra tells Reshma they cannot be together because he is now married to Shaheen. Reshma is heartbroken and returns to India. Overhearing their conversation, Shaheen learns the truth and is heartbroken. Batra tells Shaheen the truth about her father, but she does not believe the news about her father’s terrorist links. Batra tricks the group into revealing the location of the bomb’s parts, which have been kept at a high-altitude facility owned by Zakaria. The group reveals the codes to him, and he transmits a signal to the Canadian and Indian governments. Shaheen learns about the group’s plan, exposing them. Khan learns about “Wahid’s” true identity and attempts to kill him, but Batra survives. Soldiers arrive, forcing the terrorists toward a train station. They hijack a train and take the passengers hostage. Shaheen, on board, tries to disarm Khan, but he kills her. Before dying, she forgives Batra. Batra kills the other terrorists and Khan. He returns to Kashmir and reunites with Reshma. Credits adapted from . Director had planned to make before the release of his blockbuster film (2001). Sharma said he wanted to make a spy film and had contemplated making something like a film for a long time but realised Indian films did not have the budget needed to make a film on such a scale. Sharma then thought of making a film based on India’s spy network and, unlike his last historical film, set it in the early 2000s. His idea was to make a family film with no sex and violence. After the success of , Sharma decided to make which Shaktimaan had written. As part of his research for the film, Sharma interacted with Army personnel to understand the working methods of its intelligence section. The Shah brothers of Time Magnetics—Dhirajlal Shah, Hasmukh Shah, and Pravin Shah—were engaged to produce the film. Aiming for high production values, Sharma mounted the film on a sizable budget and the scale he said was needed for a story of this proportion. He said the film was a risk, especially when the Indian film industry was going through a slump. Sharma defended the budget, saying, “But everything is risky; even walking on the street is risky. I knew before I started how much it would cost. I think the two years I gave to the film are more important than the budget. The money may come back, the time won’t. Films these days don’t work because filmmakers don’t give enough time to them.” Sharma cast Sunny Deol, who also starred in , in the role of an Indian spy. The director felt that the film differed greatly from their previous collaboration because Deol played a “subtle spy” who did not “scream and shout” (Deol’s trademark in his films). Deol streaked his hair blond and wore several disguises in the film, which made him uncomfortable. Preity Zinta was cast in the female lead as a naive Kashmiri village girl, while Priyanka Chopra was cast in the supporting role of a Pakistani-born Canadian doctor. Chopra’s other 2003 film was supposed to be her debut Bollywood film, but ended up releasing a month before and thus became the actress’ debut Bollywood film. Zinta thought that the film had “a terrific script” and she identified with her character thanks to Zinta’s roots. Chopra thought the film had “a very emotional subject” and being a part of a big film like this seemed like a good option for her. and completed the cast. , Abu Jani, , and Sheetal India designed the cast’s costumes. Sanjay Dhabade was the film’s production designer. Several huge sets were constructed, including a massive glass house on water. Kabir Lal handled the cinematography. took place in and in India with filming in and where half the film was shot. The rest half was filmed at locations in Canada and Switzerland. Filming in freezing weather in Canada and Switzerland proved to be difficult for the cast who had to be transported to rooms with heaters every five minutes. Sometimes, the temperatures fell to −20 °C (−4 °F). designed the action set pieces, and international action experts coordinated the stunts. In one of the “heavy duty” action scenes, eight helicopters were used in the filming. The film’s producers cast professional wrestler as Bedi’s bodyguard for an action sequence. For one scene, Deol had to jump off an 11,000-foot (3,400 m) tall peak, which he felt was difficult. The climax of the film was shot at in temperatures of −16 °C (3 °F). To shoot the scene, Lal propped himself on top of an open helicopter to capture the Jaungfrau Heights from 15,000-foot (4,600 m) in −30 °C (−22 °F). The shot took two hours to film. After landing, he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital immediately. choreographed the songs, and edited the film. After the record-breaking success of Deol’s and Sharma’s previous collaboration , which had become the at that point, their next collaboration was highly anticipated and a lot was expected from it. According to , there were “gargantuan” expectations for the new film. was much talked about for its budget and scale. Adarsh said the producers had spared no expense in making it a film of “epic proportions” and “grand production values”, writing, “The money spent is visible in every frame, the grand look of the film just cannot be overlooked.” The film was also talked about for including stunts that were new to Bollywood cinema. Industry experts and trade analysts declared the at that point, with some estimating its budget as being between 500 and 600 million. According to , the film had a budget of 350 million, including production and marketing costs. Sharma refused to confirm the exact budget but agreed it was an expensive film, telling Subhash K. Jha: “The producers have gone on record about the budget. I cannot tell you the exact cost. But yes, it is an expensive film.” The director, however, was extremely unhappy with the hype around the film’s budget because he did not want to raise audience expectations. Rajesh Thadani said the film should have been made on a lower budget because the economics of film-making had changed and that restraining a film’s budget was “the need of the hour”. A distributor told “making such a costly film in the 2000s was not a viable proposition and that audiences had become extremely unpredictable”. He added: ” , with all its hype, barely managed to recover its cost. For to succeed, it will have to do better than .” When was in production, the Hindi film industry’s revenues were declining, and many were hopeful the film would help to revive the industry. The film’s trailers and promos created “enormous” to “positive” in the public and the media, but some trade analysts were skeptical about its high budget and its potential box-office earnings. An editor of said the recovery of the cost of a film like this, filmed on “an extra-large canvas”, was impossible from the Indian market alone. He said big-budget films like this mostly rely on overseas markets, which was uncertain for this film because it offered nothing new to overseas audiences as a “James Bond type of movie” that had been done several times before. Trade analyst Amod Mehra was more optimistic about the film, saying he hoped it would help revive the Bollywood film industry, which had “virtually gone dead”, and that “the public is anticipating something as thrilling and fast-paced as . If he has kept the pulse of the public in mind, I see no reason why [the film] won’t run well.” composed the soundtrack for with lyrics written by and . Initially, Bakshi was the sole lyricist on the soundtrack, but during production he fell ill. He wrote the lyrics for a few songs after his recovery, but after his death, Akhtar was brought in to write the lyrics for the rest of the songs. The film contains eight original tracks with vocals provided by , , , , , and . Times Music released the soundtrack on 4 January 2003. said the soundtrack did not have “anything great or extraordinary to offer” and that the music is below expectations considering the budget and scale of the film. As was nearing its release, the 2003 Bollywood Producers’ strike prevented the release of new Hindi films in theaters after 1 April 2003. Deol was unhappy about the strike because he felt postponing a big film like this was not an affordable option, saying: “When a producer has spent so much money promoting and publicising a film like , how is he expected to scrap his campaign, postpone his film and start from scratch?” was released on 11 April 2003 on 500 screens despite the ongoing ban on the release of Hindi films. The film had a good opening at the box office, collecting 22.2 million on its opening day and 63.1 million in its opening weekend in India with worldwide opening-weekend revenue of over 111.5 million. In its first week, the film collected over 107 million at the domestic box office and over 188.2 worldwide. In a report published in , Jha said the strike proved to be beneficial for because it had sustained a steady second-week run. During its box office run, the film grossed 414.5 million in India and over 36.8 million in the overseas market, making a worldwide gross of over 451.3 million. It was the , but the film’s box-office gross was considered to be below expectations due to high production costs. Time released as a single-disc, -format on 8 July 2003 across all regions. A DVD version released by contains some bonus features, including a “making-of” documentary and a collection of Deol’s songs. A version was released at the same time. Tip Top Video released the film internationally on an all-regions, – format DVD. A version was released on 1 September 2003. later released another version of the DVD across all regions on an NTSC-format single disc. garnered mixed to positive reviews from critics. Deepa Gumaste of praised the film, calling it a “comicbook spy movie”, comparing it to (2002) and (2000), and wrote, “At last an original spy who combines the guile and charm of James Bond and the raw appeal of !” She said the cinematography is a “treat for the eyes with exquisite footage of the picturesque landscapes” and wrote, “For once in a Hindi film, foreign locations have actually been put to good use.” Lawrence Van Gelder of was appreciative of the film, noting its “multiple pleasures” and writing, “Stretching from the snow-capped peaks of Kashmir to the ski slopes of Canada, mingling gunplay, spectacular explosions and chases with songs, dances and romance, this colorful Indian spy adventure constitutes the cinematic equivalent of the delightful and inconsequential escapism of a 700-page summer beach novel.” gave film three out of five, writing, “The central theme gets more spice with a love story giving much role to play for Zinta and Chopra. The action sequences are well shot and Deol essays his role with his usual skill.” Kevin Thomas of the called the film “straightforward escapist fare” with the sensibility of an “old-fashioned comic-book”, and said it “may be corny” and “unintentionally amusing at times” but it is also “a lot of fun” and has “all the classic elements of a Bollywood blockbuster taken to a spectacular level”. The ‘s Manish Gajjar called the film “great escapist” cinema and praised the performances, writing that, “the role of Ravi Khanna was tailor-made for Deol. He got a chance to exhibit the various looks of a secret agent … Zinta is radiantly refreshing throughout the film, whilst ex-Miss World Chopra appears natural considering that this is her debut film.” Derek Elley of said is “wildly over-the-top” but “undeniably entertaining”. Praising the performances, Elley wrote, “Deol makes a solid, rather than exciting hero, better in military duds than his increasingly outre disguises, and Puri overacts wildly as the villain. The female leads are much more engaging, with Zinta typically sparky and likable, and mega-looker Chopra making a solid screen debut as a modern urban miss.” of said the narrative has flair, noting the love story, including the courtship and consequent separation that has “emotional vigour” works to some extent but the spying part is a problem. She wrote: “The leads try hard—Deol appears suavely sincere and Zinta, vulnerable—but Shaktimaan’s script doesn’t hold. The incendiary dialogue got whistles but the comic-book discussions on nuclear bombs were a sleeping pill.” Taran Adarsh of criticized the “superficial” writing but praised the technical aspects of the film, such as the “terrific” visuals and “awe-inspiring” action sequences, and said it “lacks the soul to make you cry and make your heart go out for the on-screen characters … [the film] has gloss and hype as its trumpcards, but … lacks in emotions, music and a taut screenplay”.</p>