Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo: watch the full film free, legally

Three generations in uniform

Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language war film directed by Anil Sharma. Its title is translated as “We entrust this nation in you, O countrymen.” The film was released worldwide on 24 December 2004, during the Christmas weekend.

The story begins with Major General Amarjeet Singh, a devoted Indian Army officer, and follows the military legacy within his family. Amarjeet’s son, Vikramjeet Singh, joins the Navy. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war and the formation of Bangladesh, Lieutenant Commander Vikramjeet commands a ship carrying a regiment of Indian Army soldiers under Amarjeet’s command. A Pakistani Navy submarine attacks the ship. It is damaged and sinks, though Vikramjeet rescues about a hundred trapped army personnel before being lost with the vessel.

Kunal’s uncertain military path

Years later, Vikramjeet’s son Kunaljeet enters the army as a captain. Unlike his father and grandfather, he initially lacks their commitment to selfless national service. He intends to remain in the army for only a few years, relocate to the United States, establish a business and become wealthy. He repeatedly finds excuses to avoid going to the front.

Kunal falls in love with Shweta Bhansali and decides to remain in the army to stay near her. Seeking a medal, he fakes an act of heroism. He later carelessly compromises a planned attack on terrorists, allowing many of them to escape to their hideouts. Injured, disciplined and chastised, Kunal learns that Shweta loves his senior officer, Major Rajeev Kumar Singh. Rajeev had been presumed dead, but had in fact been a prisoner of war, and he and Shweta are married.

With his attachment to the army shaken, Kunal discovers a terrorist plan involving rebel Pakistani officers. They intend to bomb Bhagwan Shivji’s Amarnath Temple in Jammu and Kashmir and foment communal strife.

Cast, music and contemporary response

Amitabh Bachchan plays retired Major General Amarjeet Singh. Bobby Deol has the dual role of Captain Kunaljeet “Kunal” Singh and Lieutenant Commander Vikramjeet “Vikram” Singh. Akshay Kumar plays Major Rajeev Kumar Singh, while Divya Khosla plays Shweta Bhansali Singh. Sandali Sinha appears as Captain Dr Sakshi Pant, Kunal’s friend and later girlfriend.

The cast also includes Nagma as Aarti Singh, Vikramjeet’s wife; Danny Denzongpa as Colonel Ashfaque Khan; Ashutosh Rana as Lieutenant General Sikander Khan; Govind Namdeo as Maqbool Butt; Aarti Chabria as Trilok’s wife; and Kapil Sharma as Captain Trilok. Anu Malik composed the music, with lyrics by Sameer.

Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM rated the film two out of five and wrote that it fell “way below expectations,” while predicting mixed box-office reactions. Patcy N of Rediff called the music average, said Bobby Deol was good, and wrote that Akshay Kumar received applause for his well-written shayari rather than his acting.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.