Here Is Why Sarfarosh Is One Aamir Khan Film That Will Always Have A Special Place In Our Hearts

Aamir Khan recently took to Twitter to remember 30 years of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and compelled us to take a trip down the memory lane of having the glorious presence of talent in Bollywood and our lives. What’ interesting is, apart from Aamir Khan celebrating his 30 years journey in Bollywood, today his film Sarfarosh became 19 years old. Yes, Sarfarosh was released on 30th April 1999. While it is hard to choose from the never-ending list of power packed performances that he has given us over the year, Sarfarosh directed by John Matthew Matthan will always have a special place in our lives. Here is why:

Cop movies are new in Bollywood. In fact, some of the most iconic hits in Bollywood has been cop movies. But Sarafarosh was one cop movie that was such a far cry from the high voltage dramas that were a staple in cop movies. Sarafarosh was the first film that gave a very real feel of the world of crime and a real insight into how investigations are carried out in real life which was something never really seen in Bollywood films before.

It is very easy for a cop film dealing with issues like cross-border terrorism and smuggling to use the love story as a filler or an afterthought. But that was not the case with Sarfarosh. The love story between Aamir Khan and Sonali Bendre not only was not reduced to a side track but was actually beautifully crafted. In fact, it was very rare as a love story as far as hammy 90s love stories go. It was paced out beautifully and gave a much-needed delicateness to the full-on cop investigation and action angle.

Talking about performances the film had a somewhat unusual cast but each cast member literally nailed it and how! It was a film that changed our perception of Aamir as an actor. Not that we did not know his acting prowess before that but the range and the versatility he showed in Sarfarosh was simply staggering. Sonali Bendre as Seema was literally pitch perfect and Naseeruddin Shah ’s Gulfam Hasan would definitely be one of our favorite Naseeruddin Shah characters ever and that’s a huge statement to make. Mukesh Rishi was a pleasant surprise given he was known for playing negative characters. The ensemble cast which includes names like Akash Khurrana, Vallabh Vyas, Akhilendra Mishra, Pradeep Rawat, Salim Shah and Rajesh Joshi were not really big names but each of them gave performances worth remembering individually. 

The film probably gave us the most iconic love ballad of the generation with ‘Hoshwalon Ko Khabar Kya’ by Jagjit Singh. Although this was is the most popular song from the film, but with Sarfarosh music director duo Jatin-Lalit gave us an amazingly versatile album. The passionate romantic number ‘Jo Haal Dil Ka’, the playful ‘Is Deewane Ladke Ko’ or the folk-based ‘Main Teri Dulhan Ban Jaaon’ made for a sound of film that so enriched and varied.

Even though Sarfarosh was dealing with really serious issues such as cross-border terrorism and smuggling in a very realistic and raw way it never for once became documentary-ish. The realism was beautifully balanced with a simplicity to make the contents not only understandable and palatable but also superbly entertaining. The film packed emotions where it needed and kept it sharp and crisp to add that realistic.