Lines Review : An intriguing premise and subpar performances drive this slow-paced drama

Story: Borders tear families apart, but Nazia (Hina Khan) is determined to reunite her grandmother (Farida Jalal) with her long-lost sister from Pakistan — all this amid the 1999 Kargil conflict. What follows is a complicated love affair beyond borders that eventually ruins her life.

Review: Depicting the lives of those displaced amid 1999’s Kargil War, ‘Lines’ boasts of a rather intriguing premise. The bold and charismatic Nazia (Hina Khan) lives in the picturesque Poonch district that’s bound by the Line of Control (LOC). She lost her father there at LOC at a young age, and since then, she’s tried to be the ‘man of the house’, shouldering responsibilities to support her mother and grandmother. It’s a regular rural life they lead, until gunshots are heard — that’s when they flee to hide in refugee camps. This is unfortunately their usual drill for survival. They sometimes even spend weeks and months in these camps — all the while ridiculing the gruesome political unrest.

While reminiscing the good old days amid that chaos, Nazia’s grandmother (Farida Jalal) wishes to reunite with her sister, who’s settled right across the border in Pakistan. Nazia is then set on a mission to track her down, but she ends up finding a lot more. Along comes the love of her life, Nabeel (Rishi Bhutani). And what follows is a string of predictable scenes building up to the interesting climax.

Set in scenic locations, ‘Lines’ is a slow-paced drama that falls flat due to subpar performances. Its weak script fails to evoke emotions even in the most intense of scenes. While Farida Jalal is convincing in her portrayal of a loving grandmother, Hina Khan’s performance only picks up in the latter half of the film. The rest of the cast struggles to add value to the overall narrative. And at several points, even the misplaced background score sticks out like a sore thumb.

In one of the scenes, an Indian soldier rightly says, “Siasaton ne insaanon ko lakeeron mein baandh diya hai, warna hum jaise toh hain uss taraf bhi hain log.” And through the plight of its characters, reiterating the same thought in many poetic dialogues, ‘Lines’ highlights the wounds of the Indo-Pak conflict in this bittersweet tale of love.