# Zameen (2003 film)

Zameen (transl. Land) is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Rohit Shetty in his directorial debut. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu. The movie did average business at the box office.
The plot of Zameen is loosely based upon the Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking though more closely represents the rescue mission taken by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 1976 at Entebbe, Uganda where the IDF rescued 102 hostages taken by the PFLP-EO and the West German group Revolutionary Cells.

## Plot

Terrorists, backed by Pakistan, boldly attacked the Indian Parliament building. The Indian Army assigns this matter to Colonel Ranvir Singh Ranawat (Ajay Devgn), who, along with his men, apprehends and arrests the ringleader Baba Zaheer Khan (Mukesh Tiwari). The Colonel takes one of his subordinates, Jaideep Rai (Abhishek Bachchan), to task, as nine soldiers were killed due to his negligence and asks him to resign. A terrorist group, Al-Tahir, recruits a group of men to try to evacuate their leader Baba Zaheer from Army prison, albeit in vain as their plans are thwarted by Jaideep, who is now an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Mumbai city. ACP Jaideep summons a usual suspect named Fareed (Sanjay Mishra), who is a garage owner for the vehicles recovered from the two release their leader Baba Zaheer in lieu of the lives of all 107 on-board passengers. Presence of the professor, and throws his dead body into the sea. The professor bribes two corrupt officials of the Mumbai Airport to sneak in guns inside the flight as they never go through the security checks. In a cross-fire between Mumbai ATS and ACP Jilitants' gets the police, this group hijacks an Indian Airlines plane en route from Mumbai to Kathmandu, with Jaideep's fianceè, Nandini (Bipasha Basu), an in-flight supervisor, and Captain Basheer Ali (Pankaj Dheer), ACP Jaideep's foster father, on board. The plane, with 107 passengers and crew, is re-routed to Kazan in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where they are met with more armed terrorists as well as the Pakistani Army. Together, they demand the release of Baba Zaheer in exchange for the lives of the passengers. ACP Jaideep soon recollects from his last conversation over the phone with Nandini that one of the two airport ground staff did not leave the flight till the last moment of its departure. Jaideep apprehends him, to which he confesses of sneaking in guns and other ammunition into the flight. The Indian Government makes a failed attempt to convince the Pakistani Ambassador (Arun Bali) to either send the Pakistani Army or let the Indian Army enter Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to rescue the civilians on board the flight. The Army and the Indian police collaborate, and both Ranvir and Jaideep are asked to work together. Ranvir is weary of Jaideep's capabilities since Jaideep is investigating Ranvir and his men, who are suspected of supplying arms and ammunition to terrorists and Pakistanis. The duo nevertheless works out a plan to free the hostages and apprehend the terrorists. What they do not know is that their plan has already been compromised, and they may well be headed to their respective deaths. After a major gunbattle, Ranvir and Jaideep manage to capture Baba Zaheer again, only to throw him out of a flying Army helicopter, after the flight has taken off from Kazaan in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

## Cast

* Ajay Devgn as Col. Ranvir Singh Ranawat, Para SF
* Abhishek Bachchan as ACP Jaideep "Jai" Rai IPS, an Ex-Captain in Indian Army
* Bipasha Basu as Nandini Rai, Jai's fianceè and Flight attendant India Air
* Pankaj Dheer as Captain Basheer Ali (Pilot), Jai's foster father
* Kunwar Aziz as a Terrorist
* Mukesh Tiwari as Baba Zaheer Khan, leader of Al-Tahir
* Mohan Joshi as Brigadier Malik, Ranvir's senior officer
* Sanjay Mishra as henchman Fareed
* Kamal Chopra as Commissioner of Police
* Manish Khanna as Professor Santhanam
* D. Santosh as COP Kadam
* Jasbir Thandi as Army officer who recognises the militants
* Subrat Dutta as Major Puri
* Eijaz Khan in a special appearance in "Dilli Ki Sardi"
* Amrita Arora as an item number "Dilli Ki Sardi"
* Ram Awana as Terrorist
* Mohit Chauhan as Terrorist
* Arun Bali as the Pakistani ambassador to India
* Rajendra Sethi as Pakistan ISI Chief
* Ahmad Harhash as Baby Raj Mishra

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack was directed and composed by Himesh Reshammiya, while Sameer wrote the lyrics. The music was released by T-Series.
| # | Title | Singer(s) |
| 1 | "Sarzameen Se" (Title song) | Shaan, K.K., Himesh Reshammiya (backup vocals) |
| 2 | "Dilli Ki Sardi" | Shweta Shetty, K.K. |
| 3 | "Mere Naal" | Hema Sardesai, Shaan |
| 4 | "Tere Sang Ek Simple Si Coffee" | Hema Sardesai, K.K. |
| 5 | "Bas Ek Baar" | Alka Yagnik, Babul Supriyo, Himesh Reshammiya (backup vocals) |
| 6 | "Dilli Ki Sardi" (Remix) | Shweta Shetty, K.K. |
| 7 | "Yehi Zameen" (Band version) | Vital Signs |
| 8 | "Yehi Zameen" (Film version) | Vital Signs, Sadhana Sargam and Shreya Ghoshal |
| 9 | "Sarzameen Se" (Instrumental) | |
| 10 | "Yehi Zameen" (Instrumental) | |