At close to two hours, ‘Kya Dilli Kya Lahore’ is slow paced and might not interest those who want lots of action and love roller coaster ride through the story.

The entire film is a conversation between the two men, with just two more characters appearing. It is beautifully sparse and keeps us more than just interested. We are involved. We begin the viewing cautiously, watching carefully to see if the Indian is a bad guy, or the Pakistani. The film allows our prejudice to take its course and then shows us our own idiocy, through the two other characters who appear.

The idea behind Kya Dilli Kya Lahore is to once again point out the futility of war as well as highlight why human comes before being. And Vijay Raaz accomplishes that to a reasonable extent in his first filmmaking effort.

One of the finest things about ‘KDKL’ is Gulzar’s poetic prologue. Without the usual trappings of filmi fanfare, this story has its heart in the right place – pure and undivided. Like pre-partition brotherhood.

The film basically brings out the struggle and pain of people from Pakistan and Indian who long to be united at one undivided land.

As an actor Vijay Raaz seldom lets down a film. Here he takes on the added responsibility of direction. He keeps the proceedings even-paced and free of techno-generated upheavals. The two actors are mostly left to their own devices. The end-result is a film of tremendous warmth and wisdom.

An emphatic directorial debut by Vijay Raaz. Do yourself a favour. Buy a ticket for this one! It is not often than you find people walk out of the theater in silence. Happens either when they don’t know how to react, or are just bowled over with emotions. As I left the hall after watching Kya Dilli Kya Lahore I was one among majority who walked out, silent.

One of the finest things about ‘KDKL’ is Gulzar’s poetic prologue. Without the usual trappings of filmi fanfare, this story has its heart in the right place – pure and undivided. Like pre-partition brotherhood.

When it comes to India versus Pakistan we tend to get slightly jazbati- be it a cricket match or a movie. Speaking about movies, there are quite few films from Bollywood that centers around patriotism. However, it’s very rare that you get to see a film, which very subtly illustrates the Partition of India or nationalism.

The story is arresting, but one wishes actor-director Vijay Raaz’s direction was as strong as his performance. The storytelling is clever but falters on the pacing. As it is, the film gives us only two central character and two peripheral ones. The location remains essentially the same. It is then up to the editor and director to make each scene striking.

Kya Dilli Kya Lahore is not only well-intentioned it is well made too. Certainly worth the 100 minutes.

You know exactly how it’s going to end, you know this is technically a partition story set within the simplistic confines of a low-budget (anti) war drama. Yet, it is riveting to witness their body language, their lapse in ideologies, when facing the wrong end of a smoking Rifle. These are two artistes at the top of their game, engaging us in a battle that is not theirs to fight.