Sarfarosh

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Sarfarosh

Directed by	John Matthew Mathan
Produced by	John Matthew Mathan
Written by	John Matthew Mathan, Hirday lani
Starring	Aamir Khan Sonali Bendre Naseeruddin Shah Mukesh Rishi
Cinematography	Vikas Sivaraman
Release date(s)	1998
Running time	155 min
Language	Hindi
IMDb profile

Sarfarosh (Hindi: सरफ़रोश, Urdu: سرفروش, translation: "Fervour") was a critically and commercially successful Bollywood action film, released in 1999. It was directed by John Mathew Matthan and starred Aamir Khan and Naseeruddin Shah. The film dealt with an Indian police officer's fight to stop cross-border terrorism. The film was released at the time of the Kargil conflict when tensions between India and Pakistan were high.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Ajay Rathore (Aamir Khan) and Seema (Sonali Bendre) were sweethearts in college, but their relationship derailed when Ajay's family was targeted by terrorists. His elder brother was killed and his father seriously injured. Ajay has no time for courtship as he assumes leadership of his family, drops his medical studies, and turns his ambitions towards police work.

When the film starts, Ajay is an IPS police officer in the Mumbai crime branch. He is dedicated and incorruptible and sometimes clashes with superiors. He is investigating a case involving terrorists and gun smugglers. During the course of his investigation, he discovers a link between the gun-smugglers and the forest brigands who had earlier carried out a brutal massacre. Pakistan is using the gangsters to supply guns to the forest rebels, in an attempt to destabilize India. However, to get more evidence, he needs the help of Inspector Salim (Mukesh Rishi).

Inspector Salim has been suspended from the case; he was blamed for a botched operation in which the gangster gun-smuggler Sultan escaped from the police dragnet. The idealistic Salim is dismayed and angry; he believes that he is being unjustly charged since he is a Muslim. He is unwilling to help Ajay.

However, Salim and Ajay soon end up working together to track down the smugglers. Various thrilling action scenes ensue.

Ajay also finds himself romantically involved with Seema again. Through Seema, he meets one of his childhood heroes, a Muslim qawwali singer named Gulfam Hasan (Naseeruddin Shah). Hasan says that he is not interested in politics, just friendship and music, and moves freely between India and Pakistan. In the intervals between chases and shootouts, Ajay and Gulfam become friends.

Then Ajay discovers that the gun-smugglers are headquartered in Rajasthan. He travels north from Mumbai in search of the mastermind behind the smuggling and finds ... someone he knows.