Actor Jack Nicholson’s masterly performance as Colonel Nathan R. Jessep in the movie A Few Good Men (1992), is among the most popular roles in his long career, one that has since attained legendary status.

Nicholson portrayed the character of a military man who scoffs at civilians (or fellow officers of the armed forces deployed in non-combatant roles) with barely-disguised pity and has no qualms in assigning to himself a higher purpose in the name of national security, even if it means sanctioning extrajudicial punishments or committing excesses.

Sixteen years later, when the Hindi movie Shaurya – loosely based on A Few Good Men – released in April 2008, India still used 2G internet, Instagram was yet to be launched, and future cricketer Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who recently scored a flamboyant century in the Indian Premier League (IPL), was not yet born.

At a time when Orkut was one of the most visited websites in India and actors didn’t embark on the whirlwind promotional tours across different cities – a regular fixture nowadays –Shaurya, a small budget movie, did manage to leave its mark, courtesy the cast’s stellar acting.

Actors Rahul Bose and Jaaved Jaaferi received rave reviews for their performance as two friends standing at different sides of a trial as military lawyers.

But it was Kay Kay Menon who stole the show with his portrayal of Brigadier Rudra Pratap Singh – the Hindi version of Nicholson’s Colonel Jessep.

While Nicholson brought with him a puritan, hawk-like aura to the character with a superiority complex, Menon is brilliant in essaying the role of a man holding a position of power, possessed with visceral hatred for a community (in this case, Muslims).

Shaurya depicted the deep-rooted Islamophobia within the society

His defiant demeanour, unhesitant tone while holding the entire community responsible for the crime of one person – in the........

© The Wire