Sarfarosh (1999)

• Year: 1999
• Released: 30 Apr 1999
• Country: India
• Adwords: 8 wins & 9 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200087/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fervour
• Available in: 720p,
• Language: Hindi
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
• Runtime: 174 min
• Writer: Hriday Lani, John Mathew Matthan, Pathik Vats
• Director: John Mathew Matthan
• Cast: Aamir Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Sonali Bendre

8.1/10

Sarfarosh Storyline

Ajay Singh and his family own and operate “Rajri” a clothing emporium in South Bombay. Ajay is a fan of ghazal singer, Gulfam Hussain, and is thrilled to actually meet him during one of his performances. During this performance, he meets with Seema, and both fall in love. Seema is introduced to Ajay’s family, and they unanimously approve of her. What Seema does not know is that Ajay is acutally Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ajay Singh Rathod, who has been assigned the task of apprehending a group of terrorists, that are being sheltered and protected by corrupt parliamentary representatives, with arms being supplied by Pakistan. Ajay does not know that the trail which he is following will lead him to Rajasthan, right into the house of the person who runs this operation – a person who is known to him.

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Sarfarosh Movie Reviews

great movie – definitely worth a watch

This movie leaves the theatre with you and stays in your mind for a long time. A realistic and honest look at the problems our police system is facing is the theme of this movie. Amir Khan, is as usual,incomparable and produces a strong and honest performance. He and his team are a bunch of honest, hard-working cops trying to get Mumbai rid of all the terrorism and criminals. Amir Khan plays a tough cop with a rough past (his brother was killed by gangsters) and the event has led him to try and sweep crime away from Mumbai. All the actors in the movie have done their job very well, especially the actors in Amir Khan’s police team. Sonali Bendre has done as much justice as she could to her role, which is kind of minimal and unfair. Yet, the movie is a great one. Naseeruddin shah is amazing as usual, and goes through with his character with ease and perfection.Worth a watch, the movie will surely not fail to impress.

The best cop movie from Bollywood, bolstered by stellar performances by Aamir, Mukesh Rishi n Naseer Shah.

I first saw this in the summer of 1999 in a theatre.

Revisited it recently on a tv channel n felt like writing a review now so that I can remember the sweet summer of 1999.

Bollywood to me started with Sarfarosh.

Before watching Sarfarosh, me n my pals were wannabe “cool fellas” always preferring Hollywood movies.

Always preferring Sterling, New Excelsior n Regal theaters in Mumbai for Hollywood movies.

But Sarfarosh changed everything.

I will never forget the summer of 1999 n i still remember i was wearing a white shirt n camel color cargo pants due to the heat.

Me n my fiancé entered Gaiety theatre in Bandra, midway n that too without realising which movie was playing.

That particular time a beer bar dance sequence from Sarfarosh was going on.

My fiance’s reaction was a big wtf n i was kinda embarassed thinking which z grade film did we enter.

We decided at least we wait till one hour for the air conditioning but then we were captivated with the movie.

Once the end credits rolled, we both looked at each other and started discussing the movie and how we regretted missing the beginning part.

During those days vhs rental was cheap (10 rupees) n it used to b available the very same day of its theatrical release.

I saw it again in the summer of 1999 on a vhs to catch up the beginning and loved the movie.

The editing of the movie is brilliant. Aamir’s acting is top notch. Mukesh Rishi n Naseer Shah deserved accolades.

Sonali Bendre was a perfect package of cute n sexy in this movie.

The movie dealt with so many relevant issues plaguing my beloved country and the way the director handled everything is top notch.

Sadly the director John Matthew never got his dues. I don’t kno why he didn’t do more movies aft this.

This movie broke all the norms of a typical Bollywood trash which were produced dime a dozen those days n surprisingly Bollywood trash is still produced these days.

(Inserted this bracketed line aft revisiting it again in 2022 but this time with my teenaged kids. The print n the movie is indeed a bit outdated but now my kids r aware why their dad is a big fan of Aamir).

One of Aamir Khan’s leading man roles just before he became a mega-star.

I’ve seen enough Indian films to have noticed some changes in their quality in recent years. Starting around 2000 (more or less) the films became more polished….with much better and less tinny sound during the musical numbers and more subtlety in the writing. I mention this because “Sarfarosh” does suffer in this regard. The music sounds poor…like they were playing it over a cassette player and filming that. And, occasionally the film could stand more subtlety. Again, this is NOT unusual for the 1990s but some 90s films sound and look better than this one. I think that this increased quality has resulted in folks now taking Indian films MUCH more seriously…and they are often as good or better than movies coming from Hollywood. But sound-wise, “Sarfarosh” is technically poor. I also wonder if some of this also might have been that the movie, at the time, was NOT seen as such a prestige project and Aamir Khan was not yet a mega-star like he’d soon become. Had he been bigger at the time, perhaps the sound would have just sounded better. Comparing this film to his “Lagaan”, made just three years later is shocking…they are THAT different and the degree of polish is that great.

The film begins some time ago with some truly horrible bandits holding up a bus and massacring nearly everyone*. Soon you learn that the Pakistanis are behind selling dangerous weapons like AK-47s to bandits in order to de-stabilize their nemesis, India**.

The film now jumps ahead and is about a tough policeman, Ajay Singh (Aamir Khan). The murder of his policeman older brother in the massacre is why he is now a policeman, as he dedicates his life to dispensing justice to scum like the bandits at the beginning of the film. Vijay’s crusade against terrorism with his crime taskforce is typical of what you see quite often in Indian films…the police are outgunned and deal with organized crime by ‘bending the law’…such as slapping around folks they arrest and resorting to a LOT of shooting! What’s next? See the film as Vijay and his men seek to destroy not only the crooks but the folks supplying them with the weapons.

I was very surprised that none of the reviews I read talked about the issues with the sound in the musical numbers or a few scenes which lacked realism. A few called the film ‘perfect’ which it cannot be if the sound is this bad during the musical interludes. However, I do acknowledge that the story is excellent and exciting and the film does deserve its positive reviews…but perfection? No…especially when I can think of quite a few Aamir Khan films that are so much better, such as “Lagaan”, “Like Stars on Earth”, “Dangal” and “Three Idiots”….all films that might be seen as perfect or near-perfect. This one, instead, is exciting, interesting and STILL well worth seeing.

* I had a laugh at the massacre…which should NOT have been a funny part of the film. This is because of one brief scene where a man is shot and he flies about 30 feet…something which is physically impossible…unless you know absolutely nothing about guns or physics! Of course, in Indian crime films this is not that unusual….it’s just part of the fun…much like how Vijay’s leg instantly heals following surgery and a few hours in the hospital!

**Over the years, both countries have blamed domestic terrorism cases on each other. I am certainly no expert on this but was a bit surprised the film actually said the Pakistanis were to behind these murders.