In one of his post film release interviews John Abraham said, “I always wanted to be a clutter-breaker. I am new to the business of film-making. But in a democratic nation, as a film-maker I should be allowed to make my statement.”

Bravo to John and Shoojit Sircar for they have done just that with the latest Bollywood film Madras Café, i.e. broken the clutter of the same old jingoism masquerading as political espionage thrillers — something that has been going on in the Indian film industry for decades. For reasons best known to film-makers, no one had touched the subject of Sri Lanka which was ravaged by civil war for over two decades where hundreds of thousands were displaced, and in which countless civilians and soldiers lost their lives. Madras Café courageously and effectively deals with the Sri Lanka conflict.

Courageous because in a country of billions, of late the Indian film industry is engaged in syrupy love stories, action-based pot boilers or musicals trying to please the aam janta. A trend seems to have set in that every film produced has not only to pass the film censor board but also please individuals, community members, political parties and/or NGOs who might object to a word here, a passing shot there or even the clothes worn by a films’ supporting cast.

In such a scenario, to make a film inspired by the recent civil war in Sri Lanka (1983-2009), where the plot to assassinate a former Prime Minister of India (Rajiv Gandhi in 1991) was hatched, and which changed the political course of the country, was truly a bold decision. That too in times when masala potboilers are vying with each other to join the elite Rs100 crore club.

Brilliantly shot with a water-tight script, the beginning of the film may seem confusing — especially to those not well-informed about the decades-long civil war. Once Major Vikram Singh (John Abraham) appointed by RAW reaches Jaffna (capital of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka), for a covert operation , the declaration at the film’s beginning that all characters portrayed are fictitious, take a back seat.

On his way to Jaffna, Singh meets the British journalist Jaya Sahani (Nargis Fakhri) whose character is loosely based on journalist Anita Pratap — the first journalist to have interviewed the real LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) leader, Prabhakaran. The glam Nargis has played her miniscule but all-important role well. She is the one who gives the clues to Major Singh about foreign corporations involved in supporting the LTF (the name of the Tamil separatist group in the film). Unlike similar films made by Hollywood, there is no love angle here.

While at his job Singh comes to know of a larger plot to assassinate the premier, the man whose aim was to bring peace to the strife-torn island country by mediating between the rebels and the government of Sri Lanka. Because of a leak in Singh’s boss Bala’s (Prakash Belwadi) office in Jaffna, the moves made by the Indian armed forces get foiled.

The killings of innocent civilians, the hideouts of rebel groups, the rebel cadres carrying AK-47s, 9mm Berettas or M60s look so authentic that audiences remain glued to their seats. In the opening scene when rebels are seen shooting civilians, a girl tries to escape by running through green paddy fields but is shot dead by a gun-wielding Tamil extremist. It’s chilling and reminds you of Hollywood films based on the Vietnam war. Credit should be given to Sircar and cinematographer Kamaljeet Negi for managing to show the seriousness of the issue and the helplessness of innocent victims while also managing to keep it gore-free.

The film is not shot in Jaffna or any part of Sri Lanka. The war scenes are shot in the dense forests of Kerala and the Tamil Nadu coastal line. Some of action scenes which employ the use of light machine guns were shot in Bangkok as their usage isn’t allowed in India.

Though the audience is aware of the end — the assassination of the Indian premier — Sircar maintains a firm grip on the film’s interest level, thanks to the script and story by Somnath Dey and Shubhendu Bhattacharya. Casting director Jogi has done a commendable job by not casting too many familiar names/faces. Unobtrusive music by Shantanu Moitra and the use of Popan’s voice in the background songs proves to be the icing on the cinematic cake here.

John and Nargis are made to look great by the director. Sircar’s film brilliantly conveys that it’s the innocents who pay a price with their lives in war and at times it is they who are in the forefront of brokering a peace deal.

Viacom 18 Motions Pictures and Abraham’s production house have done a brilliant job. This is the second film from the production house. The first was another path-breaking film, Vicky Donor. Hopefully we will see more clutter-breakers from John Abraham.