The two films practically represent the two ends of the spectrum. Ashwani Chaudhari’s Dhoop takes a dark, stark and reality-based stance that in the real world, nobody gives a damn to martyrdom once the war is over and even to get what is rightfully theirs, the soldiers’ family members have to fight the corrupt system. Whereas Samir Karnik’s Heroes in the typically Bollywood way tries to gloss over the soldier’s ‘Pride’, rather than ‘Prejudice’ against them, once the war is over!

Cinematically both the films fall way short of expectations. Dhoop tries to pose as a serious, intellectual, ‘parallel’ film but still cannot resist the temptation of placing needless romantic scenes for commercial reasons. Labored pace, slack editing and unnecessary (even though they are melodious!) songs hinder this film from rising above average. But heartfelt performances from Om Puri and Revathi make this film worthwhile. Revathi’s nervous breakdown after losing her only son and Om Puri’s determined fight against corruption and his struggle to keep his martyred son’s legacy alive provide some of the poignant moments on screen.

Let’s come to Heroes. A tale of rich spoilt youngsters learning about patriotism through their film-project. Isn’t director Samir Karnik clearly taking a leaf out of Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s sensational Rang De Basanti here? But RDB could balance its mainstream and serious elements in effective, expressive and intelligent way. Heroes in contrast fails miserably in that context thanks to its copious melodrama and ‘masala’. The initial bawdy college/bedroom/bathroom comedy, a wheel-chair-bound Sunny Deol’s totally over-the-top club- fight scene and most of the songs from the film simply suck! The director had impressed earlier in Nanhe Jaisalmer but the subtle sensitivity he showed in that likeable film surfaces only in flashes in this film. The screenplay is loose and the character development is unconvincing.

Soldier’s young widow (Preity Zinta) runs a tractor in the fields and talks of pending loan installments. That is supposed to tell us of her hardships. Nowhere in the film her inner pain ever comes through! The physically handicapped ex-air-force pilot (Sunny Deol), who despite losing both legs and his brother in war still keeps pining for the battlefield glory and the elderly civilian father (Mithun Chakravarty) resentful of his martyred soldier-son for leaving him behind to face a lonely miserable life are somewhat better written characters. But needless frivolity surfaces every now and then to ruin the effect. For example, as his hot girl-friend walks into the night-club, a wheel-chair-bound Sunny Deol tells the youngsters with a wink: ‘Don’t worry! Everything above my legs works fine’! C’mon guys, in films like Masti or Dostana, this kind of humor can work, here it seems like plain junk! Still there are a few moving, lump-in-throat screen moments in Heroes that partially realize the film’s potential. 

But I feel that despite all its glaring flaws, a film like Heroes in its entertainer-garb is perhaps a better bet than a serious but boringly slow semi-commercial Dhoop to draw the masses’ attention towards the none-too-happy plight of Indian soldiers and their near and dear ones! When it comes to Indian audiences, ‘Pride’ always seems to work better than ‘Prejudice’!