are made to persuade him to go to Geneva to present the case of Kashmiri Pandits before an international forum, but he refuses to oblige, leaving his daughter in a critical state.

Cut to three childhood playmates Sheen, Manu and Shaukat who grow up together in the pristine ambience of the valley. Love blossoms between Sheen and Manu. They run around trees singing duets, dancing and partaking in choruses which bring out the sweetness of Kashmiri music. (Background score is by Tauseef.) Shaukat, a friend, turns a foe, and not only takes to the gun himself but also galvanises hundreds of like-minded young men. But lo, one day he himself becomes a target of hail of bullets, proving the truth of the dictum who live by the gun die by the gun, but not before letting loose a reign of terror on Kashmiri Pandits and forcing them to leave their homes. Pandit Amarnath steadfastly refuses to leave until his son is found hanging by a tree. During their stay in tents, Sheen, forgetting her own trauma of displacement and separation from Manu, tries to help everyone around.

Dialogues are striking and pithy at places . Like when Sheen tells her father that they should start life afresh, he, a quintessential teacher, says ‘zindagi ko dobara shuru karna itna zaroori nahin hai jitna ise sahi disha mein shuru karna ’. As far as photography is concerned, some of the frames are picture perfect and give an idea of the scenic splendour of Kashmir. Performances? Almost everyone –Sheen, Tarun Arora, Anoop Soni, Kiran Juneja and Samay Pandit - have done justice to their roles, but it is Raj Babbar, a seasoned actor, who stands out. Last but not least, kudos to Ashok Pandit who has put together a film which deals with an important issue. Except for a minor flaw here or there, the film is a gripping entertainer.

The highlights of the film’s music are that if, on the one hand, all the tracks are marked by melody, and give a distinct feel of Kashmir’s folk music, local language and the beauty of Kashmir, on the other, different tracks make us experience a wide variety of emotions and moods – romance (O sanam kuja beri and tum dua karo), anguish (aao jannat mein jahanam ka nazara kar lo), prayer (sahara chahiye – qawwali) and what have you.