Sarfarosh
Martyr
1999 · India · 166 min
- Director
- John Matthew Matthan
- Screenplay
- John Matthew Matthan
- Producer
- John Matthew Matthan
- Music
- Jatin–Lalit
Cast
What it is about
Mumbai police officer Ajay Singh Rathod is assigned to trace an arms-smuggling network that stretches across western India after a deadly attack near Chandrapur. In the city he meets the ghazal singer Gulfam Hassan, whom he admired as a boy, and the two form a warm bond. The investigation will take him to Rajasthan and test how much he can trust the people around him.
How it was made
John Matthew Matthan wrote, produced and directed Sarfarosh. He began work on the project in 1992 and spent seven years on research, pre-production and filming. The original idea was a personal revenge story, but it evolved once the conspiracy behind the 1993 Mumbai bombings came to light, prompting Matthan and co-writer Hriday Lani to study how Pakistan-backed terrorism operated. The music is by Jatin–Lalit and the cinematography by Vikas Sivaraman.
Reception and legacy
The film opened on 30 April 1999, just before the Kargil conflict, at a time of high tension between India and Pakistan. It was a commercial success and was praised for its performances, action sequences, music and script. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film. It was remade in Kannada and Telugu.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
Remakes
The film was remade in Kannada as Sathyameva Jayathe and in Telugu as Astram.
Release before Kargil
It reached cinemas just before the Kargil conflict, when relations between India and Pakistan were very strained.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.