''Tango Charlie'' is a 2005 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

written and directed by Mani Shankar, and the cinematography was by T. Surendra Reddy. The film stars

Bobby Deol Vijay Singh Deol (born 27 January 1969), better known by his screen name Bobby Deol, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. A member of the List of Hindi film families#Deol family, Deol family, he is the younger son of actor Dha ...

as the title character,

Ajay Devgn Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director, and producer. One of the most prolific actors of Hindi cinema, Devgn has appeared in over Ajay Devgn filmography, 100 films and ha ...

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who works in Hindi cinema in addition to a few Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi films. Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 160 films. ...

Sunil Shetty Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, and entrepreneur, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, with appearances in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Nicknamed as Anna, Shetty ha ...

, Tanishaa,

Nandana Sen Nandana Dev Sen is an Indian-born American actress, screenwriter, children's author, and child-rights activist. Her first film role in Bollywood was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ''Black'' (2005), starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee, in ...

and

Sudesh Berry Sudesh Berry is an Indian actor and personality known for his works in Hindi cinema and List of Indian television actors, Indian television. Films Television References External links

* Living people Indian male film actors ...

. The film follows paramilitary man Tarun Chauhan's (

) journey from a young border guard recruit to a war-hardened fighter in the Indian Border Security Force. This film was banned for release in Assam for allegedly defaming the Bodo community of

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

Plot

Two

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

helicopter pilots, Squadron Leader Vikram Rathore and Flight Lieutenant Shezad Khan (played by

and

respectively) rescue an injured Indian trooper amidst a pile of dead terrorists in the Kashmir valley. They read his diary to learn his story, as the film unfolds.

Insurgency in the North East

The tale revolves around an Indian Border Security Force trooper named Tarun Chauhan (

) in the 101st BSF Battalion arriving in

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

to tackle the menace of

Bodo Bodo may refer to: Ethnicity * Boro people, also called ''Bodo'', an ethno-linguistic group mainly from Northwest Assam, India * Bodo-Kachari people, an umbrella group from Nepal, India and Bangladesh that includes the Boro people Culture an ...

rebels. He soon joins his platoon commander Havaldar (Sergeant) Mohammad Ali ( Ajay Devgan). Chauhan later acknowledges his codename "Tango Charlie", Havaldar Ali's codename being "Mike Alpha." The rebels attack and the platoon accidentally kills one of their own as a set trap by the rebels. Then another young soldier is kidnapped and is left half dead as bait, with the rebels hiding in the bushes, killing whoever comes to rescue him. Another member of the platoon falls into the trap and is shot dead (

Shahbaaz Khan Shahbaz Khan (real name Haider Khan) is an Indian actor from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He is famous for playing lead roles in television serials such as ''Chandrakanta (1994 TV series), Chandrakanta'', ''The Great Maratha'', ''The Sword of Tipu ...

). Chauhan and Havaldar Ali kill most of the rebels. When the leader tries to escape by boat, both of them swim over and engage in hand-to-hand combat; Mike Alpha slits the throat of leader (

Kelly Dorji Kalden Sonam Dorji (born 4 January 1971), known professionally as Kelly Dorji, is a Bhutanese actor, model, and artist who works primarily in Indian movies. Early life Dorji's father is Lynpo Paljor Dorji, widely known as Dasho Benji, the perma ...

) with his own machete. Chauhan sees that the last alive rebel is only a young boy and Ali spares his life. Chauhan returns home to his native state of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

and learns that he's going to be engaged to Lachchi Narayan ( Tanishaa), a

computer engineer Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engine ...

Maoists in Telangana

A few months later Mike Alpha's platoon is transferred to the state of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

to counter the

Maoists Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China and later the People's Re ...

separatists wreaking havoc on the countryside. The Platoon are riding in a convoy to Hyderabad, while protecting a high-ranking colonel's wife and young children. The Maoists set off a planted IED under the jeep, killing the colonel and his family. The platoon pursue and kill the rebels and one trooper Sangram Singh attempts to rape a female rebel but Chauhan stops him. The rebel then kills herself. Singh attacks Chauhan but Chauhan kills him in self-defense. Chauhan surrenders himself to Mike Alpha. But Mike Alpha changes the story about Singh's death to the superiors, saying Chauhan did the right thing.

Riots in Gujarat

On their next assignment, the platoon is sent to quell the riots taking place in the western province of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. The police chief desperately tries to calm the crowd but is shot and killed by an extremist, and the platoon to opens fire. Chauhan tries to shoot the extremist but accidentally kills a bystander who pops into the way. Chauhan later visits the victim's family to seek forgiveness, but they assault him in anger. Mike Alpha intervenes and warns them, saying the BSF isn't here to kill innocent people but to stop people from committing acts of violence and they themselves are responsible for their losses. While in a military hospital, Havaldar Ali tells Chauhan his own tragic story, in which he was once assigned to save the family of a rich landlord from Naxalites in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. The terrorists kill almost everyone at the landlord's daughter's wedding. Despite all effort, the platoon couldn't save the family; the daughter, who began to take a liking for Ali, was soon killed by the terrorists before he could eliminate them all. He says it was the first time that he listened to his heart and not his mind. Chauhan thereafter marries Lachchi Narayan.

In Kashmir

The Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan begins and Mike Alpha's platoon and the battalion move to

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

where they are assigned to defend a bridge. Mike Alpha gives Chauhan a strict order- shoot anyone who wants to cross the bridge but doesn't say the password "Rainfall" after three attempts. Pakistani militants attack the platoon, the army kill a large number of the militants but Mike Alpha is severely wounded before being approached by a real Indian battalion of soldiers who give him the correct password. Mike Alpha salutes them and then dies. Chauhan arms himself to the teeth and stalks the Pakistanis to their base. He wires the place with explosives, killing the rest of the militants. Chauhan then shoots the gang leader dead before being wounded. The film returns to the beginning, Chauhan being rescued by the helicopter pilots. Later the pilots are rewarded for finding Tango Charlie. Havaldar Ali is awarded post humously with the Ashok Chakra.

Cast

as BSF Soldier Sepoy Tarun Chauhan (Tango Charlie) * Ajay Devgan as BSF Soldier Hawaldar Mohammad Ali (Mike Alpha) *

as Squadron Leader Vikram Rathore *

as Flight Lieutenant Shezad Khan * Tanishaa as Lachchi Narayan / Lachchi Tarun Chauhan *

as Shyamoli, the daughter of the Bengali landlord *

Sudesh Berry Sudesh Berry is an Indian actor and personality known for his works in Hindi cinema and List of Indian television actors, Indian television. Films Television References External links

* Living people Indian male film actors ...

as BSF Soldier Bhiku * Shahbaz Khan as BSF Soldier Dev Dixit * Rajesh Khera as BSF Soldier Constable Sangram Singh * Suresh Ghera as Manipur BSF Officer *

Alok Nath Alok Nath (born 10 July 1956), also known as Sanskaari Babuji, is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema and television. He made his film debut with the 1982 English (and Hindi) film ''Gandhi'', directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, ...

as Mr. Anand Chauhan Tarun Chauhan's father * Ayesha Jaleel as Mrs Chauhan Tarun Chauhan's mother * Vivek Shauq as Abhay, Tarun's friend * Sanjay Mishra as Tarun's friend *

Tiku Talsania Tiku Talsania (born 7 June 1954 ) is an Indian actor, known for his work in Hindi films. He is primarily known for his comic roles in popular comedy films. Apart from acting in films and television serials, Talsania also performed as a freelan ...

as Ram Narayan (Lachchi's father) *

as Bodo people militant leader * Arun Behl as Bodo militant *

Anjan Srivastav Aanjjan Srivastav (born 2 June 1948) is an Indian film, television and stage actor, associated with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capi ...

as Doctor *

Mukesh Tiwari Mukesh Tiwari is an Indian actor, who has worked predominantly in Bollywood and few Tamil, Punjabi, Kannada and Telugu films. He is known for playing negative and comic side roles. He graduated from National School of Drama National Scho ...

as Pakistani Army Fidayeen Leader *

Rajendranath Zutshi Rajendranath Zutshi (born 4 February 1961) is an Indian film and television actor. Personal life Zutshi was born on 4 February 1961 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India into a Kashmiri Pandit family. Raj Zutshi is a grandson of Dina Nath Zu ...

as Bengali Naxal leader *

Subrat Dutta Subrata Dutta (born 16 November 1975) is an actor who appears in Indian films. He is best known for his role in Bollywood films like Talaash: The Answer Lies Within, ''Talaash'', ''Tango Charlie'', Zameen (2003 film), ''Zameen'', ''The Shaukeen ...

as Naxal leader's henchman * Abhijit Lahiri as Landlord Rai Bahadur * Atul Mongia as Pakistani Army Soldier Aslam Jehangir * Pabitra Rabha as Bodo militant group deputy

Soundtrack

The music for the movie was mainly composed by

Anu Malik Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is the recipient of a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film ...

Release and reception

Critical reception

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Jaspreet Pandohar described the film as "an interesting study of terrorism, violence, and valour". Ziya Us Salam pf ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' called the film "a visual treat with a daring theme" and "dares to enter where the Indian media shies away". Harish Kotian of Rediff.com wrote, "The movie tries to glimpse into the life of soldiers, and the sacrifices they make, but somewhere in the middle, the movie loses its plot."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 2005 films 2000s war adventure films 2000s Hindi-language films 2000s war drama films 2000s political drama films Films about terrorism in India Indian war drama films Films shot in Jammu and Kashmir Films set in Jammu and Kashmir Films set in the 1990s Kargil War Anti-war films Films scored by Anu Malik Films scored by Anand Raj Anand Indian Army in films Films set in Gujarat Films set in Andhra Pradesh Films about Naxalism Films set in West Bengal Kashmir conflict in films Indian Air Force in films Films set in Kargil 2005 drama films Films directed by Mani Shankar Films based on Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts Film censorship in India Censored films 2005 controversies Race-related controversies in film