Shaurya

Samar Khan's 2008 Indian film takes place in a military court. Major Siddhant, an army lawyer, is assigned to defend Captain Javed Khan, accused of killing a senior officer; the accused does not want a defence and admits the charge. The question is why he stays silent. Siddhant does not take the assignment seriously at first; the further he reads, the clearer it becomes that the incident concerns what happened inside a unit in Kashmir and that religious identity was decisive in it. Kay Kay Menon plays the opposing side, a hard-line colonel, and his long speech in court became the film's best known passage. The narrative follows the pattern of American courtroom drama but ties the matter to a local conflict. Who it's for: those who like Indian courtroom drama and films about the army. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a neutral military narrative; the film takes an open political position.