Article 370(2024)

2h 38m

Release Date: Feb 23, 2024 | Limited

Ahead of a major constitutional decision, special agent Zooni Haksar is tasked with a secret mission to quell violence in a conflict-ridden region.

Note: Distributed by Jio Studios

Releases

Original Release | Feb 23, 2024

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$326,458
Total US & Canada:
$1,088,790
Total International
$12,133,231
Total Worldwide:
$13,222,021

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Director & Top Cast

Aditya Dhar

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: India

Language: Hindi

Summaries

Plot Summary

The country was divided on religious lines in 1947. All princely states decided to join India except Jammu & Kashmir. The population was Muslim majority, but ruler of J&K Maharaja Hari Singh was a Hindu. Nehru was not willing to accept the accession of J&K till Hari Singh agreed to hand over the reins of the state to Nehru's dear friend Sheikh Abdullah. This is when Pakistan attacked J&K with army of regulars and Tribals. Hari Singh agreed to Nehru's condition. Before Indian army could get control of the whole of Kashmir, India accepted the ceasefire proposal of the UN. Thus, a third of Kashmir was illegally occupied by Pakistan. Shiekh Abdullah demanded a special status for J&K, being the only Muslim majority state of the country. This was Article 370. J&K got its own constitution, its own flag and its own Prime Minister. This gave rise to the separatist movement of the 1990's. Kashmiri Hindus were slaughtered and forced to leave the state. Burhan Wani became the face of the separatist movement in 2015.In July 2016, Zooni Haksar (Yami Gautam Dhar) worked with the ID (law enforcement agency) in Jammu and Kashmir under the leadership of Khawar Ali (Raj Arjun). Zooni got to know that Burhan Wani (Shivam Khajuria), the terrorist who was the leader of the Mujahideen movement, was going to be in Kokernag in a couple of days to celebrate Id. Zooni knew that killing him would first strike a blow to the organization and also bring back stability in the state. But Khawar Ali had a different way of doing things, and he told Zooni not to take any action in haste. He told her that he had dealt with all the situations through his effective back-channels, and once again, he wanted to do something similar. But this time around, Zooni was ready to disobey the chain of command and do what her heart told her. With the help of Deputy Commandant CRPF Yash Chauhan (Vaibhav Tatwawadi) and his team, she conducted a crackdown at the house where she knew that Burhan was present. Yash knew that Zooni did not have Khawar's authorization, but they had already missed Burhan thrice and they knew that Khawar's informant Jibril was the one responsible for this.The fight was personal for Zooni. She wanted the state of things to improve in Jammu and Kashmir, but the radical elements of society and people like Khawar Ali, who always resorted to age-old tactics, became the biggest obstacle. Zooni knew that political policies had to change completely in order to bring stability back to the crown of India. Just days after Burhan was killed, separatist leader Yakub Sheikh (Sumit Kaul), together with the ISI Chief (Sandeep Chatterjee), made Zakir Naikoo (Ashwini Kaul) the leader of the terrorist organization. Zakir Naikoo gave a provocative speech, and the misguided youth of Kashmir came on the streets and disrupted law and order. There were daily strikes, stone pelting and playing of the national anthem of Pakistan, which was all Pre-planned by Yakub weeks in advance. The International media plays up the anger of the local population against the Indian Government.Zooni and her team killed Burhan, but instead of being appreciated for her efforts, she was sent back to Delhi, as Khawar didn't want her to disturb the delicate balance of things in the states of Jammu and Kashmir. Many years ago, Zooni's father, Kabir Haksar, was framed by the then CM of Jammu and Kashmir (Jalal) in a bank scam. Kabir was a whistle-blower on the scam. A few days later, the news came that Kabir was found dead in a lake, and the Government termed it a suicide due to embarrassment.Brinda Kaul (Iravati Harshe) is a press journalist covering J&K and knows that something is afoot. In January 2017, joint secretary to the PMO, Rajeshwari Swaminathan consults former J&K Governor Jagmohan Patil (Mohan Agashe) about removal of Article 370. Jagmohan says that the Article could only be removed by the Constituent Assembly, which is not dissolved and there was no provision for transfer of its powers to the state assembly. Even then, no local political party in J&K would support the removal of Article 370.The conditions in J&K worsened (60 killed and 7000 injured and the Government of India doesn't look like in control of Kashmir), and that's when in March 2018 the joint secretary to the PMO, Rajeshwari Swaminathan (Priyamani), decided to have a talk with Zooni Haksar and make her the leader of a secret operation. Zooni terms terrorism as a business in J&K. She is convinced all politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats profit from it, and the entire population is held hostage to Article 370. Despite all evidence, all cases, no terrorist is put in jail. Children of separatists study in foreign schools and sit on top posts. Kashmir gets the highest central aid for peace, and yet there is no peace as local leaders will only pretend and will do everything to prevent peace.In June 2018, the central Government party removes support from ruling party of J&K CM Parveena Andrabi. The Goverment falls as it is in minority and the Governor rule is established in the state. This way, Zooni did not have to work under any state government restrictions.Rajeshwari now activates Zooni. Her team includes Gaurang Sengupta (Ajay Shankar), financial crimes expert, Ashish Mattoo (Ashwini Kumar) Additional SP J&K Police, Anuradha Pattnaik (Sukhita Aiyar) Cyber Security, and Yash.Firstly, Zooni wanted to track down the biggest financial backer of these terrorist activities that were taking place in the state. She learned about a man called Shamsher Abdali (Rajiv Kumar), who was a dry fruit dealer and had agreed to be a double informant for Khawar back in the day. Khawar always believed that Abdali was his asset, but it was the other way around. Abdali was in fact Jibril. The man was raising funds through the sale of dry fruits in the black market and providing all the resources that the terrorist organizations needed.Zooni puts pressure on Khawar to give up Abdali. Zooni gets angry at Khawar for intentionally or unintentionally coming in the way of every breakthrough through the years. The NIA team finds Abdali and captures him. A mob of 200 stone Pelters block them at Lalitpora village, but Yash puts Abdali on the car bonnet and forces the mob to back off. Abdali is kept at the NIA HQ in Srinagar.Former Chief Minister of J&K Salahuddin Jalal (Raj Zutshi), and current Chief Minister of J&K Parveena Andrabi (Divya Seth), decided to form a coalition, and the central government knew that if that happened once again, their plans of bringing back stability would get spoiled. So, the president's rule was applied in the state to deter the two Kashmiri leaders from forming a government, and this move had its repercussions. Abdali is brought to Delhi in Medical Ambulance, as Rajeshwari didn't feel that it was safe to keep him in J&K.On February 14, 2019, a boy named Adil Darr was released from prison on a special request made by Khawar Ali, and he went and bombed a CRPF van and took his own life in the process. Yash Chauhan lost his life as he was also sitting in that van, and Zooni grieved the loss of a dear friend and a confidant who supported her at each and every step. The NIA arrest Yakush Sheikh, who taunts the India Government that he is untouchable. Zooni threatens to kill him and finds that the plan was executed by Zakit Naikoo. The RDX came from the Kathua tunnel. Adil was specifically identified and freed from prison for this mission. Khawar didn't know that something was going to happen, and Zakir Naikoo took complete advantage of the situation. Zooni got very angry at Khawar, and she suspended him as she was done dealing with him and she didn't want him to come in between of her operations any longer.The basic problem with the abrogation of Article 370 was that it could only be changed by the J&K constituent assembly that was dissolved in 1957. So basically, in the absence of such an assembly, nothing could be done by the parliament. But Rajeshwari's team found a loophole in the law, and they got to know that sub clause D was hidden from everybody. The suspicion arose when Rajeshwari's legal team found out that the article had been amended even after the constituent assembly was dissolved. In Article 367 of the Indian Constitution, it was mentioned that the president had the power to interpret any given article, and so at that time, the powers of the constituent assembly were vested in the state legislative assembly. Using its powers, the legislative assembly made some changes, and then clause D was hidden from the public eye so that everybody believed that 370 couldn't be repealed. Zooni and her colleague, Wasim found the original document in the J&K secretariat library, and they sent it to the PMO. Zooni and Wasim were attacked on their way, but they were able to make a near escape. The foundation was set, and now the PM (Arun Govil) had to just make sure that the bill to abolish Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which gave special status to the states of Jammu and Kashmir, was passed by both houses of parliament.Zooni was in charge of any and all security threats coming from the PM's actions on 5th and 6th Aug 2019. She creates a detailed assessment of all external and internal security threats facing the country. Khawar is angry with Zooni and passes the information he has to ISI and they understand that India is planning something big on 5th Aug (including an invasion of Pakistan). All separatist leaders and political leaders are jailed or kept in house arrest closer to the date. Brinda knew that the center was going to abrogate 370. She was about to go live on air, but the PMO puts out a plethora of conflicting reports ranging from Indus Water Treaty to hanging to Yakub Sheikh. This puts enough doubt in Brinda that she cancels her program. The PM himself sends his convoy ahead without him, to distract the press and goes alone in his car to the President to get the bill signed. ISI realizes that Khawar gave them false info, and they activate Naikoo.Zakir Naikoo's plan was that he would first give the impression that he and his organization were going to kill the governor of J&K, but in reality, they were going after Jalal, the ex-CM. He wanted to do that so that he could pin the blame for Jalal's death on the central government and then drag the Human Rights Commission into the debate and give an open way to foreign countries like the US to intervene. Zooni and her team were unaware of it, but when they were heading towards the governor's house, the former realized that something was not right. Very intuitively, she asked her team to go to Jalal's house and ensure his safety. It was a huge gamble that she played, and she knew what the consequences could be. Meanwhile, the home minister went to Rajya Sabha (Kiran Karmarkar) to get the bill passed, and there was a specific reason why he went to the lower house first when, in fact, in Lok Sabha, he could have easily gotten it passed as he had a majority of seats in his favor. The central government didn't want to give the opposition a chance to prepare, and that's why, in a shocking move, the home minister first went to the Rajya Sabha.Zooni killed Naikoo, and the bill was passed in the lower house of parliament. Ultimately, on August 5, 2019, the article that gave special status to J&K was removed. Peace returned in the valley, and the cases of violence dropped remarkably. It was a huge victory for the central government, as they had delivered on their promise.

Storyline

In the aftermath of the 2016 Kashmir unrest, a young local field agent, Zooni Haksar, is picked out by Rajeshwari Swaminathan from the Prime Minister's Office for a top-secret mission. Their aim? Cracking down on terrorism and putting an end to the billion dollar conflict economy in the valley, by doing the absolute impossible - Abrogating the notorious Article 370. That too, without spilling a single drop of innocent blood. — Jio Studios Zooni Haskar is suspended from her special force for breaking protocols and conducting an operation by killing a terrorist which was without orders from her seniors. She is transferred to Delhi as security in charge of a political leader, during a press conference she comes across Rajeshwari Swaminathan who belongs to PMO office.Rajeshwari offers Zooni to lead NIA (National Investigation Agency) which will have her direct reporting to Rajeshwari.After some hesitation Zooni decides to join NIA and asks Rajeshwari to include Yash and Wasim her former colleagues in her team.Zooni and her NIA team is all set to fight against terrorism in Kashmir by bringing them down on their knees. During her operation Zooni realizes that Rajeshwari has conducted the operation for removal of Article 370 which will open a new chapter for Kashmir. — alex.mjacko@gmail.com