Keerthi Chakra
Encyclopedia
Kirtichakra is a 2006 Indian Malayalam war film
directed by debutant Major Ravi
, and starring Mohanlal
and Jeeva. The film is based on true events related to militancy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
. The film was released on 7 August 2006 worldwide. It is the first movie in the Major Mahadevan series. The film was dubbed into Tamil
as Aran
. The title is derived from the Indian gallantry award, Kirti Chakra
. The film was a critical and commercial success. Keerthichakra is one of the few films to depict the operation style of the National Security Guards
.
) is an officer deputed to the National Security Guards
(NSG). He has been assigned to counter-terrorism duties in Kashmir
and commands an elite group of NSG commandos
. He calls back his buddy Havildar Jaikumar (Jeeva) from his honeymoon because he has information about major activities of the militants; he feels Jaikumar is needed for the team. The commandos raid a mosque in civilian dress and seize a big collection of arms and explosives. Later, during an operation focused on some cottages near the Dal Lake
, a commando in the team is killed and an outraged Jaikumar shoots down a captured terrorist who challenges the commandos. A human rights activist (Shwetha Menon) learns about this and threatens to file a complaint with the government. She later understands the situation and the sincerity of the commandos and decides not to proceed with the complaint.
Meanwhile, a group of terrorists from Afghanistan
and Pakistan
conspire to hit the Hazratbal Shrine
with a missile; they think this will create unrest in the region and that the Indian army will be blamed. They hijack a house that offers a good vantage point on the shrine and plant the missile there. Some of them rape a girl in the house and shoot a person who protests. A military patrolling vehicle hears the gunshot; as they approach the house, they are fired upon. The patrolling team intimates the NSG, and Mahadevan and his team immediately join the battle. After a long operation, the team kills the terrorists, frees the civilian hostages and disarms the missile. But a civilian informs that the chief of the terrorists is not to be seen among the corpses, and the commandos start a combing operation in the house. They locate the terrorist and Mahadevan recognises the man as the one who killed his wife and daughter. The terrorist is killed but he manages to shoot at Mahadevan. Mahadevan is covered by Jaikumar, who gets hit by the bullet and dies. Jaikumar is awarded the Kirti Chakra
posthumously.
, a resigned officer of the Indian army
, planned a film on Kashmir militancy based on real-life incidents while he was under duty in counter-terrorism activities in Punjab & Kashmir. He wrote the film which reveals the actual mode of working of Islamic terrorist groups within India: their recruitment, training, target choosing, terror strikes, propaganda, and how Indian armed forces tackle the attacks via its special services forces. The movie develops with this backdrop and tries to convey the dedication and selfless service defence personnel exhibit while on duty.
Ravi got R. B. Chaudhary of Super Good Films, a major production house in Tamilnadu, to produce the film. The film was planned to release a dubbed version in Tamilnadu as well, as a way to cover the budget of the film. The film had a big budget, and the producers thought that the cost might not be recovered from Kerala
alone, as Kerala is a small territory. Chaudhary's son Jeeva was cast in a major role in the film. Additional scenes were shot for the Tamil version, Aran
. The filming was predominantly done in Srinagar
and Pollachi
.
The Indiaglitz.com review calls the film one that parallels national standards. The reviewer goes on to state that "proving to be an effective story teller and a crafty film maker, the film and the director holds the viewers till the end with very little short comings." The major actors and the cinematographer were also praised. The reviewer did not find too many negative points about the film and described it as a "technically sound, visually striking flick largely based on reality."
Kirtichakra was a box-office success. The film got a great opening and the film went on to become a hit. However, Aran
(the Tamil version) met with a poor response from the box office.
Asianet Film Awards
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
directed by debutant Major Ravi
Major Ravi
Major A.K. Ravindran, better known by his screen name Major Ravi is a former Indian Army Officer and a Malayali Indian filmmaker.He is a recipient of the President's medal, joined the Indian army as a jawan in 1975 and graduated from the Army Cadet College to become a commando in the year 1988...
, and starring Mohanlal
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
and Jeeva. The film is based on true events related to militancy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
. The film was released on 7 August 2006 worldwide. It is the first movie in the Major Mahadevan series. The film was dubbed into Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
as Aran
Aran (film)
Aran is a 2006 Tamil language feature film dubbed from Malayalam. The Malayalam original was titled Keerthichakra. The film stars Mohanlal, Jeeva, Gopika, and Prakash Raj in lead roles. The film was produced by Jeeva's father, R. B. Choudhry of Super Good Films Ltd...
. The title is derived from the Indian gallantry award, Kirti Chakra
Kirti Chakra
The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra...
. The film was a critical and commercial success. Keerthichakra is one of the few films to depict the operation style of the National Security Guards
National Security Guards
The National Security Guard is a Special Response Unit in India that has primarily been utilized for counter-terrorism activities and was created by the Cabinet Secretariat under the National Security Guard Act of the Indian Parliament in 1986...
.
Plot
Major Mahadevan (MohanlalMohanlal
Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
) is an officer deputed to the National Security Guards
National Security Guards
The National Security Guard is a Special Response Unit in India that has primarily been utilized for counter-terrorism activities and was created by the Cabinet Secretariat under the National Security Guard Act of the Indian Parliament in 1986...
(NSG). He has been assigned to counter-terrorism duties in Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
and commands an elite group of NSG commandos
Commandos
Commandos is a stealth-oriented real-time tactics game series, available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game is set in the Second World War and follows the escapades of a fictional British Commandos section. It leans heavily on historical events during WWII to carry the plot...
. He calls back his buddy Havildar Jaikumar (Jeeva) from his honeymoon because he has information about major activities of the militants; he feels Jaikumar is needed for the team. The commandos raid a mosque in civilian dress and seize a big collection of arms and explosives. Later, during an operation focused on some cottages near the Dal Lake
Dal Lake
Dal Lake is a lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of the northernmost Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The urban lake, which is the second largest in the state, is integral to tourism and recreation in Kashmir and is nicknamed the "Jewel in the crown of Kashmir" or "Srinagar's Jewel"...
, a commando in the team is killed and an outraged Jaikumar shoots down a captured terrorist who challenges the commandos. A human rights activist (Shwetha Menon) learns about this and threatens to file a complaint with the government. She later understands the situation and the sincerity of the commandos and decides not to proceed with the complaint.
Meanwhile, a group of terrorists from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
conspire to hit the Hazratbal Shrine
Hazratbal Shrine
The Hazratbal Shrine , is a Muslim shrine in Srinagar, Indian Administered Kashmir. It contains a relic believed by many Muslims of Kashmir to be a hair of the Islamic prophet Muhammad...
with a missile; they think this will create unrest in the region and that the Indian army will be blamed. They hijack a house that offers a good vantage point on the shrine and plant the missile there. Some of them rape a girl in the house and shoot a person who protests. A military patrolling vehicle hears the gunshot; as they approach the house, they are fired upon. The patrolling team intimates the NSG, and Mahadevan and his team immediately join the battle. After a long operation, the team kills the terrorists, frees the civilian hostages and disarms the missile. But a civilian informs that the chief of the terrorists is not to be seen among the corpses, and the commandos start a combing operation in the house. They locate the terrorist and Mahadevan recognises the man as the one who killed his wife and daughter. The terrorist is killed but he manages to shoot at Mahadevan. Mahadevan is covered by Jaikumar, who gets hit by the bullet and dies. Jaikumar is awarded the Kirti Chakra
Kirti Chakra
The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra...
posthumously.
Production
Major RaviMajor Ravi
Major A.K. Ravindran, better known by his screen name Major Ravi is a former Indian Army Officer and a Malayali Indian filmmaker.He is a recipient of the President's medal, joined the Indian army as a jawan in 1975 and graduated from the Army Cadet College to become a commando in the year 1988...
, a resigned officer of the Indian army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
, planned a film on Kashmir militancy based on real-life incidents while he was under duty in counter-terrorism activities in Punjab & Kashmir. He wrote the film which reveals the actual mode of working of Islamic terrorist groups within India: their recruitment, training, target choosing, terror strikes, propaganda, and how Indian armed forces tackle the attacks via its special services forces. The movie develops with this backdrop and tries to convey the dedication and selfless service defence personnel exhibit while on duty.
Ravi got R. B. Chaudhary of Super Good Films, a major production house in Tamilnadu, to produce the film. The film was planned to release a dubbed version in Tamilnadu as well, as a way to cover the budget of the film. The film had a big budget, and the producers thought that the cost might not be recovered from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
alone, as Kerala is a small territory. Chaudhary's son Jeeva was cast in a major role in the film. Additional scenes were shot for the Tamil version, Aran
Aran (film)
Aran is a 2006 Tamil language feature film dubbed from Malayalam. The Malayalam original was titled Keerthichakra. The film stars Mohanlal, Jeeva, Gopika, and Prakash Raj in lead roles. The film was produced by Jeeva's father, R. B. Choudhry of Super Good Films Ltd...
. The filming was predominantly done in Srinagar
Srinagar
Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...
and Pollachi
Pollachi
Pollachi is a taluk of Coimbatore Rural district of the Tamil Nadu state of India. It lies in the southern part of the Coimbatore city around 40 kilometres from downtown Coimbatore. This is the second largest town in the District after Corporation of Coimbatore. Owing to the proximity to the...
.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Mohanlal Mohanlal Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star... |
Major Mahadevan |
| Jeeva | Havildar Jaikumar |
| Lakshmi Gopalaswamy Lakshmi Gopalaswamy Lakshmi Gopalaswamy is a South Indian film actress and a classical dancer, qualified in Bharatanatyam. She has acted in several Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada films. Her debut Malayalam film Arayannangalude Veedu alongside Mammootty won her the Kerala State Film Award for the best supporting actress... |
Mahadevan's wife |
| Gopika Gopika Gopika is an Indian film actress, who has predominantly starred in Malayalam films. Starting her career as a model, she ventured into acting with the film Pranayamanithooval... |
Jaikumar's wife |
| Biju Menon Biju Menon Biju Menon is an Indian film actor who has mainly worked in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu films. He appears mostly in supporting roles, but has also acted in antagonistic roles. He made his debut in 1995 in Mannar Mathai Speaking... |
Gopinath |
| Sphadikam George | Krishnakumar |
| Cochin Hanifa | Nairettan |
| Ramesh Kanna | Chinna Thambi |
| Shweta Menon | Human Rights Activist |
| Saikumar | Dutta |
| Sanusha | Kashmiri girl |
| Shammi Thilakan | Hari |
| Kannan Pattambi | Tea boy Appukuttan (cameo) |
Reception
Kirtichakra received generally positive reviews. The Rediff.com reviewer describes the casting of Mohanlal as "near perfect" and comments, "though people may complain that his bulky physique doesn't suit the role of a commando… Mohanlal overcomes this shortcoming by the agility and the emotional roundness he gives to his character." He also thought Major Ravi was "successful in keeping the feel of the film authentic most of the time." On the negative side, he found that "there are certain times when the narrative lapses into the stereotypical terrain." He also thought the film "lacks in pace" and that "except for the main characters; the others are cardboardish." The reviewer wraps up his review by commenting that "the effort that went behind making Kirtichakra is commendable."The Indiaglitz.com review calls the film one that parallels national standards. The reviewer goes on to state that "proving to be an effective story teller and a crafty film maker, the film and the director holds the viewers till the end with very little short comings." The major actors and the cinematographer were also praised. The reviewer did not find too many negative points about the film and described it as a "technically sound, visually striking flick largely based on reality."
Kirtichakra was a box-office success. The film got a great opening and the film went on to become a hit. However, Aran
Aran (film)
Aran is a 2006 Tamil language feature film dubbed from Malayalam. The Malayalam original was titled Keerthichakra. The film stars Mohanlal, Jeeva, Gopika, and Prakash Raj in lead roles. The film was produced by Jeeva's father, R. B. Choudhry of Super Good Films Ltd...
(the Tamil version) met with a poor response from the box office.
Kerala State Film Awards
- Best ScreenplayKerala State Film Award for Best Screen PlayThe Kerala State Film Award for Best Screen Play winners:-References:**...
- Major RaviMajor RaviMajor A.K. Ravindran, better known by his screen name Major Ravi is a former Indian Army Officer and a Malayali Indian filmmaker.He is a recipient of the President's medal, joined the Indian army as a jawan in 1975 and graduated from the Army Cadet College to become a commando in the year 1988...
Asianet Film AwardsAsianet Film AwardsThe Asianet Film Awards is the most prominent award ceremony for Malayalam films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. The awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artistic and technical excellence in the Malayalam...
- Best Feature Film on National Integration
- Best Actor - MohanlalMohanlalMohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
- Best Director - Major RaviMajor RaviMajor A.K. Ravindran, better known by his screen name Major Ravi is a former Indian Army Officer and a Malayali Indian filmmaker.He is a recipient of the President's medal, joined the Indian army as a jawan in 1975 and graduated from the Army Cadet College to become a commando in the year 1988...
- Best Star Pair - Jeeva and GopikaGopikaGopika is an Indian film actress, who has predominantly starred in Malayalam films. Starting her career as a model, she ventured into acting with the film Pranayamanithooval...