Shoot on sight (2007) - Thriller

Movie Poster

A totally unexpected movie from a Director – I would never trust to make a good movie but then I realized he did made some meaningful movies by the end of his career. Otherwise his resume is full of crappy movies to say the least – some are actually a lesson in “How not to make movies”. But this one turns out to be a shocking and damn good movie made on such a serious subject. Based on the true incident of the London suicide bombings followed by “Shoot at sight” order by British Govt. The way it starts – right from the moment go – you get hooked to it and the drama unfolds and ends in a thrilling manner – although it’s predictable but it never loses steam and you are actually hooked to it may be because you want to see some positive ending. I totally liked it and will recommend it very highly to anyone liking movies based on reality with a good lesson in the end. Movie’s high point is its amazing cast – imagine – how easy it would be for Jag Mundhra to direct Naseeruddin as a good Muslim cop, Om Puri as an extremist priest always at war and Gulshan Grover as Naseer’s good friend. Brian Cox as Naseer’s boss is too good. All in all it’s a good time pass and worth onetime watch for sure. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the movie as wasn’t expecting it to be this good. I wonder why it didn’t make a name for itself as I never read about it anywhere and am glad that a friend recommended and I finally got it. Do not miss it.

Daughter & Nephew

The Movie: Starts with a thrilling chase with a couple of British Cops following a Muslim guy with a back pack and a wire attached to his bag connected to his ears. As if he is talking to someone and actually going to drop the back pack containing some kind of a bomb in a moving train he was about to board. Right as the train arrives, the cop intervenes and before even he could do anything, he is shot dead as he tries to take something out of his jacket pocket. Later it’s made clear that the guy was innocent – he was actually listening to music on his iPod and that’s why he couldn’t hear the warning given by cops. Cut to scene two we have Brian Cox briefing his junior officer (Naseeruddin Shah) who happens to be a Muslim to issue a statement to media. Naseer himself is going through a tough phase at office and at home both as his colleagues wont trust him as a cop even after so many years of service in the department and on the other hand – his teenage daughter who doesn’t listens to him and always lands him in some kind of trouble. She is going around with a friend of hers who Naseer doesn’t like one bit and always tells her to stay away from him, the dude is actually taking her for a ride and as usual the girl has no idea about. The drama is captured in such a subtle way that you actually sympathize with him. He is married to a British female and has two kids. His nephew joins them from Lahore who has come to London for further studies. The same week they go for prayer and we are introduced to extremist priest (Om Puri) who teaches his followers that world over Muslims are at war all the time as lots of Muslims are being killed for no rhyme or reason. There is a big difference between their beliefs though that’s why they do not agree with each other and take separate paths. Unfortunately at this stage movie becomes predictable and we know that Naseer’s nephew is certainly going to join hands with extremist group and what happens next is predictable yet thrilling the way they have shot it. His wife also has a doubt on his nephew, she has some evidence too but Naseer wouldn’t believe him. But when his colleague gets killed following a trail of suspicious people, he comes in action and realizes the gravity of the situation. Would he be able to save his nephew from their clutches? At what cost? How about his family? You’ve got to see the movie to answer all those questions and trust me – it’s too good to be missed. Although it doesn’t offers any solution to the problem neither it preaches anything but it just shows how so many innocents are being killed for no reason at all. A true story told in a damn good way.

Its title: Got me thinking – why “Shoot on sight” and why not “Shoot at sight” which is used more in talking terms. But if you see the movie you will realize the importance of that change – it’s totally awesome.