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 Title
Charas
Cast Jimmy Shergill, Uday Chopra, Namrata Shirodkar, Hrishitaa
Bhatt
Director Tigmanshu Dhulia
Genre Action Thriller
Year 2004
Nearly 26000 foreigners come to Kullu Manali every year. Many of them do not
return. Some are found dead. Some don't want to be found.
The reason is Charas (opium) - a narcotic drug grown in the Himalayan valleys of
India. And this drug trafficking is the theme of director Tigmanshu Dhulia's
second directorial venture 'Charas - A Joint Effort'. Dhulia who assisted
directors like Ketan Mehta (Sardar Patel) and Shekhar Kapur (Bandit Queen) and
penned dialogues for films like Dil Se and Bus Itna Sa Khwab Hai, won critical
acclaim for his debut film Haasil based on university politics, which
established the acting credentials of the talented Irrfan Khan.
Parents from across the Globe - Britain, Ireland, Holland, Italy, Israel and
Russia have formed an Amateur investigative network after their sons and
daughters had all vanished in the valley of Kullu and Manali.
A boy named Joel Kitchen from England had come to Himachal on a paragliding
trip. He did not return home. His parents think he is alive. For the police it
is closed case. Joel's parents being well connected in the political circles
manage to send an Indian cop from the Scotland Yard (Jimmy Shergill) to India
for investigation.
For some people in England, the case becomes a serious issue. They do not want
the Scotland Yard cop to get the right information because they are the ones who
are directly connected in the drug trade. A minister in England, Union Transport
minister in Delhi and the IG police (Irrfan Khan) are the three pillars of the
trade. An Indian cop (Uday Chopra) is assigned the duty to keep a watch on this
cop from England. Both become friends without revealing their real identities to
each other.
As the cop from England gets closer to his answers, he is implicated as a
Pakistani spy. The Indian counterpart has orders to arrest him. Circumstances
motivate both men to go up to the mountains where the actual crime is being
committed and find the answers.
With a thick plot running on a multi-dimensional track, Charas promises to be an
interesting adventure thriller. The real geographical identity of the film has
been maintained by shooting the film at actual locations. And because the
backdrop is real and a big problem for the state government and the country, the
scenario becomes interesting and intriguing.
   
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