What does winning a game require? Skill? Yes! Strength? Yes! Will power? Yes! But is it possible to win just with skill, strength and will power? No, what you need is also the strong sense of belief! A belief which tells you that you can!

This is what Kabir Khan [Shahrukh Khan] wanted to tell his team of girls as a coach.

A team which was hardly the one before Kabir stepped in
A team which had lost focus when it came to playing hockey
A team which just didn’t have enough ammunition left to strike and make it to the top league
A team which had had to be taught about the virtue of belief. A belief in realizing that if you want, you can!

This was a team of women hockey players who were just lost in oblivion. In the times when even male hockey team isn’t anywhere close to the legendary status it had once achieved, it was nearly impossible for a turnaround to happen.

Still, Kabir Khan thought otherwise. And he ‘believed’ that he could bring a revolution in the way the sports is played and followed. He wasn’t an outsider after all! Years back, he had led the Indian hockey team and unfortunately experienced failure.

But he won’t take failure now. Because he seemed to have caught hold of the ‘mantra’ of success! The ‘mantra’ which told you that it’s ‘just about winning’! The ‘mantra’ which had to come from your own self rather than being handed over.

Because Kabir’s ‘mantra’ was “Jo nahin ho sakta hai, wahi to karna hai… “!

Kabir’s biggest challenge lied not in training his team and making them skilled professionals. His challenge lied in bringing them together and instill confidence to make them play together as a team.

But how easy was it to bring together girls who were as different as they could be. Belonging to states as diverse as Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, each of them came with their own traits, background, style of living, culture and lingo.

Will Kabir manage to create a well knit team out of these individuals? Will he make them all play with just the right honesty, sincerity and integrity which is required to beat the toughest of opposition?

Will he make everyone stand up and say - ‘Chak De India’?

With music by Salim Sulaiman and lyrics by Jaideep Sahni, the film is looking at an August 10 release.

Illegal migration

An issue that has plagued countries from not just years or decades but centuries.

Thousands of hopeful people who travel continents in search of a better life through illegal means, only to find their hopes being dashed and their lives risked.

KAAFILA is the story of one such group. A group which thought that moving over to a new country would turn around their lives for better. Little did they know that the situation they were getting into would only endanger their lives and give such a blow which would leave a mark not just on their body but even their soul.

This was a large group that had it’s eyes set on UK - an ultimate haven for thousands of illegal migrants. Agent nexus around the globe made sure that the true picture never got cleared for the innocent men who thought that once they would set their feet on the foreign shores, their troubles would eradicate forever.

Well, their troubles had just begun!

First and foremost they had to live a life in the hiding all the way in Eastern Europe due to some trouble that no one could see coming. On the advice of their agent, they spent as many as 6 months in foreign lands where they had absolutely no one to support. With no job, no food and no shelter, they looked upon each other to gather hope, courage and the will power to live.

This troublesome journey meant that they had death as a constant companion. There were many lives lost in every step they took, whether it meant traversing through the beastly jungles or cramping themselves in small ships.

Men died left, right and center and in the end there were just 12 of them who remained alive.

12 men who had nothing common amongst them but the spirit to live a better life
12 men who belonged to different countries and communities
12 men who formed a kaafila

Even as their trouble was far from ever, there came more of it in the form of Russian mafia that dealt with plutonium smuggling racket. If this wasn’t enough, there was more to come in the form of militants from the Afghan border.

With nil hopes of survival and their future looking bleak, they finally saw hope in the form of Sameer [Sunny Deol], the mysterious man of the mountains!

Now it was up to Sameer to make sure that he kept the 12 men together and make them reach their destination safely. This journey again traversed from countries as diverse as India, Tajakistan, Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan!

But there was some tension building up within the group.

Was Sameer really the one he seemed?
Was Sameer the one who could be trusted?
Was Sameer really their savior or someone whose real identity was not known to any?
Was Sameer really going to save them from trouble or did he have some other plans of his own?

Who was Sameer?

Directed by Amitoj Maan who has also enacted an important role in the film, KAAFILA stars beauties like Sana Nawaz (a top ranking feature film actress from Pakistan), Mona Lisa (top ranking television actress from Pakistan) and Polina Stoynova (Bulgarian super model and actress) as the leading ladies.

Shot in Mumbai, North India, Ladakh, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Afghanistan and many other foreign locales, KAAFILA is aiming at an August 10 release.

Realistic films, if treated with an element of commercial ingredients, have a great potential to create an impact on audience. SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA, COMPANY and SATYA are some of the examples that one can remember. Each of these films have lifted elements from real life with the script being thoroughly inspired by the actual happenings.

26TH JULY AT BARISTA takes the trend further with the only difference being that while the aforementioned films were centered on underworld, this one picks up it’s story from a natural disaster that had struck Mumbai exactly 2 years back.

Year 2006. Date - 26th July.

The day when rains lashed Mumbai like never before and took away many a lives
The day when it was hard to imagine how something as cruel as this could happen to a city that was always vibrant
The day when the spirit of Mumbai was revealed for an umpteenth time as young and old, men and women, rich and poor - everyone came together to help each other

The day which even today is remembered by all and makes one salute the spirit of togetherness and spirit of Mumbai!

The film is set in the coffee shot Barista where people were having just yet another round of coffee while chatting up with friends and generally having good times. The film’s lead pair met there as well, though as complete strangers. Little did they know that the incidents that would occur on this day would change their lives forever.

The rain never stopped and soon it was loud and clear that nothing could stop a calamity from taking place. There was apprehension, fear and sorrow all around. No one knew what could be the course of action but then when has ever been the case when Mumbaikars have just sat down with their hands all tied?

The people in Barista rose up to the challenge and started taking measures to save not just themselves but even the people on the street. They had to overcome this challenge. By any means. But how?

Sheer spirit followed by determination and will-power make them all come together and change the path that destiny had designed for them. Did they succeed?

Starring Kabir Sawhney and Simran Vaid, 26TH JULY AT BARISTA has lyrics and music by Sandarbh with Mohan Sharma at the helm of direction. The film is planned for 3rd August release.