Ground Zero – A film that tries to show the pain of Kashmir, the truth there and the passion of the army. But did this film reach that level? Let’s talk with complete honesty.
Connection between recent incident and film
After the recent incident in Pahalgam, Kashmir, the release of this film based on the events between 2001 to 2003 on terrorism in Kashmir creates an emotional connection. The film replicates the real incidents in which the youth of Kashmir were brainwashed and pushed into terrorism.
But the first half of the film takes a lot of time to set up this background, which makes its runtime of 2 hours and 17 minutes feel long.
Presentation vs. Emotions
When the scenes of terrorist attacks come in the film, they do not seem as impactful as in films like “Uri”. Especially when you have an example of a film with a great presentation like “Uri”.
The presentation, acting and dialogue delivery of Ground Zero feel average to a large extent.
Real life inspiration but incomplete story
The 2001 Parliament attack and the 2002 Akshardham attack have also been touched upon in the film, but instead of showing those incidents in depth, more focus has been given on the struggle of the BSF soldiers. The way the role of mastermind Ghazi was made a mystery and then suddenly revealed, also seemed quite disappointing.
If the code decoding and detailing of the operation were shown well in the film, then it would have been gripping.
Emraan Hashmi’s performance
Emraan Hashmi has tried his best in the role of a BSF soldier, but still fails to convince 100%. The weak performance of the supporting cast at many places also drags the film down.
The real issue of the film
Ground Zero is based on a very big real story, but fear is clearly visible in the filmmaking. While films like “Kashmir Files” present the truth with full courage, “Ground Zero” touches lightly on the real picture of Kashmir and goes away. There is an element of patriotism in the film, but it does not reach the heart.
Positive and negative points
Positives:
- Story based on real events
- Some emotional moments especially in the end
Negatives:
- Weak screenplay and slow pace
- Lack of emotions and dialogues
- Playing the truth safe
- Lack of power in presentation
My rating
- If you haven’t seen movies like “Uri” or “Shershaah”, you might like Ground Zero.
- But if you are expecting a high emotional and gripping film, this is just a one time watch.
👉 From my side, Ground Zero gets 2 stars out of 5.
(1 star for the real story and 1 star for Emraan Hashmi’s efforts.)