Sikandar (2009)

14 - year - old Sikandar Raza has been living with his uncle and aunt in Kashmir, ever since his parents were killed by militants 10 years ago. The young boy, who dreams of a better life ... See full summary »

Director:

Piyush Jha

Writers:

Piyush Jha, Kumaar (lyrics)

Stars:

Parzan Dastur, Ayesha Kapoor, Sanjay Suri

Cast

Credited cast:
Parzan Dastur	...	Sikandar Raza (as Parzaan Dastur)
Ayesha Kapoor	...	Nasreen Banu (as Ayesha Kapur)
Sanjay Suri	...	Mukhtar Masoodi
Madhavan	...	Lt. Col. Rajesh Rao (as R. Madhavan)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nassar Abdulla
Akash Aditya	...	Police Inspector
Irfan Choudhary	...	Mukhtar's bodyguard
Mushtaq Kak	...	Maulvi Allah Baksh
Gulzar Khan	...	Army Havaldar
Nazir Khan	...	Arshad Baig
Nishat Khan	...	Mukhtar's Chauffeur
Sunil Kumar	...	Ejaz
Parvez Malik	...	School Principal
Khurshid Mir	...	Mukhtar's P.A.
Dilip Raj	...	Inayat Hussain

Storyline

14 - year - old Sikandar Raza has been living with his uncle and aunt in Kashmir, ever since his parents were killed by militants 10 years ago. The young boy, who dreams of a better life for his family by realizing his football talent, is a bit of a loner at school and an easy target for the school bullies. One day on his way home from a school football match, Sikandar finds a gun lying on the path. Despite being warned against it by his new friend Nasreen, Sikandar picks up the gun believing it to be the answer to his problems. When playing with the gun alone in the woods, Sikandar meets a young man who teaches him how to be a great shot, but the young man is not who he seems and Sikandar innocently becomes caught up in political warfare. Although the quiet Nasreen acts as Sikandar's conscience, Sikandar gets further embroiled in situations beyond his control, and innocent people get killed. As the story unfolds we see that Sikandar is an innocent victim in a game being played out ...

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Plot Keywords:

one word title

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi Urdu

Release Date:

21 August 2009 (India)

Also Known As:

Foot Soldier

Filming Locations:

Kashmir, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,954 (USA) (21 August 2009)

Gross:

$1,954 (USA) (21 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Big Pictures, Reliance Big Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dedicated to the children of Kashmir.

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Soundtracks

"Allah Hoo Allah Allah Hoo, Pooch Rahi Hai Meri Rooh"
Written by Kumaar
Composed by Justin and Uday
Performed by Hrushikesh Kamerkar and Yash Narvekar
Courtesy of Big Music

User Reviews

Sikandar is a good movie

Sikandar, written and directed by Piyush Jha, is intended as a poignant drama about the lost innocence of children in Kashmir. Despite its best efforts though, the film doesn't quite work because of a rickety screenplay that leaves you with too many questions unanswered.Parzaan Dastur stars as 14-year-old Sikandar, a football-obsessed Muslim kid whose parents were killed by militants in the Valley, and who lives with his uncle and aunt in the Kashmiri countryside now. He's routinely picked on by the bullies at school, and when he stumbles across a discarded pistol one day, he decides to keep it, and begins waving it in the face of anyone who bothers him. A local Islamic militant notices this and befriends the young boy whom he trains to use the gun. Ayesha Kapur stars as Sikandar's school friend Nasreen, who warns him to stay away from the gun and his new mentor, but the kid inadvertently becomes embroiled in a tussle between feared militants, a peace-advocating politician, and the Army. It's the writing, unfortunately, that plays spoilsport here, with poor characterisation coming in the way of your taking this tale seriously. Jha makes cardboard caricatures out of significant characters like the Army officer (played by R Madhavan), the dreaded terrorist (played by newcomer Arunoday Singh), and the peace-trading politician (played by Sanjay Suri), each of whom is saddled with clunky dialogue. While it's admirable that the film doesn't take sides when pointing out where the real problem lies, Sikandar suffers from the sudden shift in tone – it goes from a standard morality tale in its first half to a cheesy thriller in its second. There is also the issue of the unforgivable, over-simplistic climax in which the leads are absolved of responsibility for their crimes. What's more the film's jarring background score and sluggish pace also act as party poopers. On the up-side, Sikandar is memorable for its compelling cinematography of this scenic land in all its lush beauty. But sadly that is not enough to do the trick. Both leads – Parzaan Dastur and particularly Ayesha Kapoor – appear too raw to pull off consistent performances, and the plot holes are too many to ignore. Sikandar may have its heart in the right place, but its other parts needed assembling.It misses its goal by a mile.