''Sikandar'' is a 2009 Indian

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

film written and directed by

Piyush Jha Piyush Jha is a film director, screenwriter, author and series creator from India. Early life Piyush Jha was born in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. He did all his schooling in Mumbai, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Psychology at the Universit ...

. The film features

Parzan Dastur Parzaan Dastur is an Indian actor and writer. He is best remembered as the cute kid in the Dhara advertisement and the silent Sikh kid in ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' by many Indians. Early life Parzaan is an alumnus of Balvantray Mehta Vidya Bhaw ...

in the titular role with

R. Madhavan Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil and Hindi films. Madhavan has won four Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Madhava ...

Sanjay Suri Sanjay Suri (born 6 April 1971) is an Indian actor and film producer of Hindi cinema. He made his debut in the film '' Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (1999)''. He went on to star in many supporting roles, but finally got his big break with '' Jhankaar ...

and Ayesha Kapur in pivotal roles. The film has

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of Jammu & Kashmir as its backdrop. The film was known in its production stages as ''Foot Soldier''. The film was released on 21 August 2009.

Plot

Sikandar Raza (Parzan Dastur) is a 14-year-old schoolboy in the Kashmir valley. Ever since his parents were killed by jihadis (militants) 10 years ago, he has lived with his aunt and uncle, in a small town called Kupwara in Kashmir valley. All Sikandar's desires revolve around the happiness of his foster parents and getting the ball into the goal on the football field. One day, on his way to a school football match, Sikandar finds a gun lying on the path. Despite admonishments by his newly made school friend, 14-year-old Nasreen (Ayesha Kapur), Sikandar picks up the gun and begins a journey into the darker side of his nature. The quiet-yet-strong Nasreen becomes Sikandar's conscience keeper. She tries to dissuade him from giving in to the lure of the gun. Sikandar gets embroiled further and further in situations beyond his control, and people get killed. At first it seems that the happenings occurring alongside Sikandar's predicament are not connected. But, as layer upon layer is revealed, it becomes clear that Sikandar is the innocent victim in a game being played out between the militants, the army, the peace-bartering politicians and the religious heads of the little Kashmiri town. The pieces of the puzzle come together at the very end, leading to a shocking revelation. The movie is a portrayal of moulding of child psychology, and the making of terrorists.

Cast

as Sikandar Raza * Ayesha Kapur as Nasreen *

as Colonel Rajesh Rao *

as Mukhtar Masoodi * Arunoday Singh as Zahageer Qadir * Rahul Singh as Captain Yashvardhan Singh

Soundtrack

Reception

Nikhat Kazmi Nikhat Kazmi ( hi, निखत काजमी; 1958/59 – 20 January 2012) was a senior correspondent and well-known film critic from, born Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, who had been writing for ''The Times of India'' since 1987. She died of breast ...

, film critic of the ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

'', gave it a 3.5 star rating. Michelle Orange, film critic of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', opined that ''Sikandar'' is "a Corking Narrative and Cognent Sketch of Violence".

References

External links

*
AOL.in Movie Review By Noyon Jyoti Parasara

Sikandar: Guns over roses

“In Sikandar I’m depicting that militancy is on wane in Kashmir” – Piyush Jha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikandar (2009 Film) 2009 films 2000s Hindi-language films Films about terrorism in India Films set in Jammu and Kashmir Kashmir conflict in films