Before Vidhu Vinod Chopra tried to become a jack-of-all filmmaker trying his hand at different genres, he made one type of film brilliantly: the crime drama.Chopra directed one of the best-ever movies in this category, Khamosh (1986), about a murder during a film shoot. Parinda (1989), despite its insistent melodrama, is an exemplar of the Bombay dockland film, memorable for its neo-noir lighting, stylish visuals and dazzling locations.1942: A Love Story is a patriotic tract, about Indians rising up against the oppressive British during the Quit India movement. Complete with do-or-die revolutionaries and frequent “Jai Hind” chants, the 151-minute movie even has a scene in which the national anthem is played and audiences are commanded to rise to their feet.But the 1994 production, which has been restored and re-released in cinemas, also has throwbacks to Chopra’s skill in creating high-wire tension. Some of the best moments in 1942 belong to a crime thriller – the conspiratorial huddles in under-lit rooms, the deceptions to throw off British soldiers, the intimate close-ups that reveal character transformations.The screenplay, by Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Shiv Subrahmanyam, is based on an old-fashioned story by Chopra and Kamna Chandra. In the picturesque hill town Kasauni, an apolitical young man comes of age when he falls in love.Anil Kapoor in 1942: A Love Story (1994). Courtesy Vinod Chopra Films.Naren (Anil Kapoor) is the callow son of Hari Pratap Singh (Manohar Singh), a wealthy toady of the British. Naren loses his heart to Rajjo (Manish Koirala), the daughter of the revolutionary Raghuveer (Anupam Kher). Raghuveer and his comrades want to kill the odious British general Douglas (Brian Glover), who’s fond of yelling “Hang them!”Naren’s ardour is inconvenient to Raghuveer, especially since Naren doesn’t realise how much trouble he is causing by constantly following Rajjo around. The courtship, although unconvincing from the start, unfolds through some of RD Burman’s best-ever work.The music composer died before the film’s release, unable to see how his soulful tunes along with Javed Akhtar’s lyrics infused delicacy and feeling into an indifferent romance.