Jai and Suhel, TV journalists from India in search of the ultimate news scoop: meeting the Taliban. Imran Khan Afridi ? a soldier of the hated Taliban who needs to escape the wrath of the Afghans and run to his country, Pakistan. Khyber, a proud Afghan who has seen the destruction of his country over the decades. Jessica Beckham, An American photojournalist ready to risk her life to photograph the Taliban. Five people from different worlds, their paths are destined to cross in a ruthless country devastated by war, Afghanistan.
This is a story, spanning 48 hours, of five individuals linked by hate and fear, but brought together by fate to finally recognize each other. Against this turbulent backdrop, Jai and Suhel, two Indian Television reporters have entered Afghanistan and their aim is to somehow get a rare interview with a Talibani. Helping them in their pursuit of a Talibani is their Afghan guide, translator and driver, Khyber in his Toyota Jeep called Kabul Express. As the film unfolds, a special relationship develops between an Afghan, a Pakistani, two Indians and an American.
Kabul Express works in parts. Each visual depicts the tragedy of a spectacle called Afghanistan. Each scene is also accompanied by a killer line by Arshad. Kabir also gets ample help from the locations and the cinematographer, Anshuman Mahaley, takes full advantage of it. Not only are the locales of Afghanistan breath-taking, the lensman also captures them with dexterity. John Abraham doesn’t really get a chance to exhibit histrionics, but gets two major scenes -- one, when he talks to the Pakistani about his daughter and the other, when the Pakistani is offering prayers. John handles them with supreme confidence. Hanif, the Afghani, is first-rate, while Linda, the American journalist, does an okay job.
On the whole, KABUL EXPRESS is a good-looking film but it refuses to get