Ground Zero-2025 -Engaging thriller

Genre – War film – True Story

Time: 2 Hours 15 minutes

Platform:  Amazon Prime

Director:  Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar

Cast: Emraan Hashmi. Sai Tamhankar. Zoya Hussain. Deepak Paramesh. Mukesh Tiwari.

Plot: BSF Commandant Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey (Emraan Hashmi) is based in Kashmir. It is immediately after the December 2001 Parliament attack and individual acts of terrorism , namely close quarter shootings with pistols , is taking the lives of many soldiers. The shadowy killers are known as “The Pistol Gang”. Investigations lead to what is already well known ; these are orchestrated by a shadowy figure known as Ghazi Baba. Dubey stops one such attack on himself by Hussain(Mir Mehrooz), a college student and turns him into an informer. Dubey plans a fake escape attempt so that Hussain will lead them to the house of Hakeem, a doctor who treats every wounded militant or stone pelter. Hussain succeeds in planting a transmitter in the medicine bag of the doctor. While treating Ghazi Baba, the bag accidentally breaks open and the transmitter is revealed . Ghazi Baba kills the Hakeem. Dubey remotivates Hussain to act as bait for Ghazi Baba. Simultaneously IB gives information about another terrorist, who is planning an attack on PM Vajpayee during the latter’s visit to Kashmir…

If  the film is set in Kashmir, then we know what to expect:

• The hero will be in a uniform of some Government agency – Army or Police. Surprisingly, here it is the BSF. .
• The terrorists will sprinkle their talks with inshallah , Azaadi , kaafirs and similar blood curdling cries to show how nasty they are.
• The law enforcement types will be kind to the local people , always hoping that a small seedling will somehow sprout one day and lead to peace and quiet and talks in the state.
• There will be one good Muslim who sides with the law enforcement and is inevitably killed for his goodness.
• The hero’s sidekick / second in command will suffer the consequences of the hero’s ‘herogiri’ or miscalculation , ending in him being either killed or suffering serious injuries.
• The hero’s girlfriend/ wife will be always kind to him, knowing the amount of stress he is undergoing in his daily routine.
• There will be some press or political types who will harangue him.
• His seniors / competing agencies wont understand him and / or will suspend him.

Ground Zero ticks all these boxes :) .

So if the writing is cliched , why even bother with the film ?

Simple. Despite the cliches, it is interesting and doesn’t bore. We do not think of the cliches but watch as the BSF commandant goes through the daily stress while trying to do his job , while being lambasted by his superior Commandant Sanjiv Sharma (Mukesh Tiwari) , who is more concerned with preserving the image of the BSF while Dubey is a daredevil hell for leather , here and now type.

What also works in favor of the film is the actual locations in Kashmir . This is not some studio or a substitute in Himachal. This is the real thing. We can clearly see how difficult it would be for any police/ BSF/ Army officer to tail someone in such an area. They will clearly stand out among the crowd as happens while Deputy Commandant Binu (Deepak Paramesh) and Dubey, in clearly ill fitting civilian clothes, tail first the Hakeem and then Ghazi Baba’s wife. Since this is 2002, there were no drones . It had to be done the old fashioned way – on foot. These scenes are really engaging  and give a suspenseful “whats going to happen now” feeling. There are many such suspenseful moments in the film and that is what works in its favour.

When Dubey chases Ghazi Baba through the narrow streets of the small locality, it is clear that this too is not an easy task. The narrow streets and the various shops with their wares displayed outside the store fronts are a natural obstacle course. The chase is very well done and is clearly one of the best scenes in the film.

The IB  and his superior, Commandant Sharma acting high and mighty, , is but a cliché to show how there is the hero and there are “others”. These scenes drag at times but then there is  Aadila (Zoya Hussain), the IB officer who finally understands that Dubey was right and sides with him in a last minute . Maybe one more cliché but still not all that bad.

Last but not the least . This is probably only the second film in a long time that has the BSF officer as a central character. Most others have Army officers fighting terrorism in the valley; the bulk of the fighting is usually done by the BSF and the largely unacknowledged Jammu and Kashmir Police, (who are acknowledged in the final thanks in the film). The only other film with a BSF hero was the hugely under rated Tango Charlie (2005), whose reputation has grown since its initial flop status.

Emran Haashmi is decent in the key role of Deputy Commandant Dubey. All the supporting actors are competent. The film ends with snippets of what happened to the real Dubey, Binu and others. These are the real heroes of the anti terrorist war.

Despite the somewhat clichéd  story, the overall film holds one’s interest and since it’s a true story, we want to know what happened to Dubey, Binu and everyone.

Real History – 3 out of 5

Script – 3 out of 5

Story – 5 out of 5

Direction – 4 out of 5

Production Design – 4 out of 5

Total – 3.8 out of 5