Sarfarosh (1999 film)

Sarfarosh (transl. Fervent) is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written, produced, and directed by John Matthew Matthan. The film, based on true events regarding state-sponsored terrorism taken place in India during 1990s, stars Naseeruddin Shah, Aamir Khan, and Sonali Bendre, alongside Mukesh Rishi, Pradeep Rawat, Akhilendra Mishra, Makrand Deshpande, Shri Vallabh Vyas, Govind Namdev and Surekha Sikri. The soundtrack and musical score were composed by Jatin–Lalit and Sanjoy Chowdhury, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Vikas Sivaraman and Jethu Mundul respectively. The film revolves around an IPS officer's quest to eradicate cross-border terrorism.

Matthan started working on the film in 1992, and spent seven years on the research, pre-production and production. It was released in 30 April 1999.

Sarfarosh was released just before the Kargil conflict when tensions between India and Pakistan were high. The film became commercially successful at the box office. The movie received praise for its cast performances, technical aspects, action sequences, music and script. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film, and was screened at the International Film Festival of India. The film was remade in Kannada as Sathyameva Jayathe and in Telugu as Astram.