Kabul Express Directed By
Kabir Khan
Cast
John Abraham - Suhel
Linda Arsenio - Jessica
Hanif Hum Ghum - Khyber
Salman Shahid - Imran
Arshad Warsi - Jai
The best thing's first, there is not a single song-dance sequence in Kabul express(yipee
) ! Secondly it's a good if not a great mix between commercial and documentary cinema. Having said that it's not a documentary at all, its a full length feature film albeit not as a lengthy as the usual bollywood fare.
The movie is supposedly based on Kabir Khan's personal experience in afghanistan while shooting a documentary. Thats one of the reasons i decided to watch Kabul Express. It's Kabir Khan's first commercial venture and a mighty good one at that. The movie starts off with Suhel and Jai, newbies in reporting, wanting to get an exclusive interview of the talibanis. The movie depicts post 9/11 afghanistan, a ravaged, morbid, and totally bombed to the stone age. The taliban has been overthrown and the remaining "talibanis" are fleeing from the country. Aiding them in their pursuit of this elusive interview is Khyber who acts as their guide and has this toyota prado which he calls "Kabul Express". The trio go places and roam the country in search of a "talib" for the interview. As luck would have it they don't manage to find anyone but manage to get themselves in danger once and twice and even get trampled to death while watching a sport "Buzkashi". They get saved in time by an American journalist Jessica.
Things take a turn when the three get taken in by Imran, who's a "talib" and wants to flee the country. His plan to hold the trio until they reach safely to the pakistan border. Thus begins thier journey across Afghanistan towards the Pakistan border. Journalistic envy causes Jessica to chase Suhel and Jai and she ends up being taken hostage as well. From here onwards the movie deals about their journey to the pakistan border. The movie has a few surprises related to the characters, a good deal of unsual humorous situations and drama towards the end.
Kabul express is basically a thriller with some unusual comedic intersperses. Especially the debate between Imran and Jai between who's the better all-rounder in cricket. The humour is so unconventional that you might fall in love it after all the slap stick and tacky comedy we get in bollywood movies. Arshad is the smooth operator when it comes to comedy. He is fluid and the his timing just great. John still needs to take acting classes but he's pretty confident while portraying Suhel. Ditto for Linda Arsenio who needs classes as well. She adds to the eye candy but thats about it. Salman Shahid as Imran is just awesome ! He's the talib you'd want to throw off the cliff and he's the talib who you feel sorry for at the same time. Hanif Hum Ghum as Khyber is pretty solid in portraying his role as a guide and a native who hates talibanis for their oppressive ways.
The direction is top notch especially since it's Kabir khan's maiden bollywood venture. The pace of the movie is just under 2 hours. Pretty short for a bollywood film but the director manages to cram in humour, suspense, drama and a bit of action as well. The cinematograhy is breathtaking showing Afghanistan and its troubled landscape. The movie makes good use of all languages hindi, english and afghani(pushto/dari). The background score by Julius Packiam is pretty awesome for a hindi venture and suits the film quite well.
In the end a very well made movie and a recommended watch for those who think bollywood can't do any better.
Rating: 7.5/10
Kabul Express 
