Thriller

RAAZI

CAST: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Jaideep Ahlawat, Rajit Kapur

DIRECTION: Meghna Gulzar 

4 STARS ****

 

 

 

 

 

Even with the plethora of spy-thrillers Bollywood has been churning out of late, Meghna Gulzar’s ‘Raazi’ feels dif­ferent. The smartly woven film recounts the life journey of its female protagonist, from a meek homely girl to a fearless spy. A mas­terly performance by Alia Bhatt suc­cessfully glues together the film’s moral complexities and nationalist sentiments, making it an important film to have come out of India in recent times. During the volatile times in the build-up to the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, 20-year-old Sehmat Khan (Alia Bhatt) is plucked from her sheltered life as a student in Delhi University and made to train as an Indian spy by her father (Rajit Kapur), a sea­soned Indian spy himself with ties to a high-ranking Pakistani army official. To plant his daughter inside Pakistan, he arranges Sehmat’s mar­riage to the Pakistani army official’s youngest son Iqbal (Vicky Kaushal).

 

With Sehmat installed in her in-laws’ place in Pakistan, she becomes the eyes and ears of India, which wants to know if Pakistan is trying to outflank it on a crucial war-front. The task isn’t easy as we see her walk on eggshells, conniving and cajoling to scavenge just about any information on Pakistani mili­tary tactics which she can secretly pass on to her Indian superiors. And she has to do all this without blowing her cover of a naïve young wife and daughter-in-law.

 

‘Raazi’ is based on the novel ‘Calling Sehmat’ (2008) by former Indian military man Harinder Sikka. Gulzar and her co-writer Bhavani Iyer’s adaptation retains the broad “nothing above national interest” theme. But they are also successful in telling the story without the kind of chest-thumping patriotism that’s become the standard staple of so many Indian spy genre flicks, be it Neeraj Pandey’s ‘Baby’ or Nikhil Advani’s ‘D-Day’. In this Raazi is more of a character study than a desperate flag-waving film.

 

Pakistan for a change isn’t por­trayed as filled with villains. Gulzar doesn’t resort to cheap tricks like pulling a sub-plot where Sehmat gets abused by her controlling in-laws, just to massage the anti-Pakistani pathos. Vicky Kaushal, who plays Sehmat’s unsuspecting husband Iqbal, is shown to be an understand­ing partner who on the night of their wedding insists on sleeping on a separate sofa and allows his wife to settle and grow familiar with him. Sehmat and Iqbal’s relation­ship grows to such an extent that it threatens to doom her real mission.

 

Bhatt, who debuted in 2012 with the high school movie ‘Student of the Year’ has in recent times taken up more challenging and serious roles (most notably in ‘Udta Punjab’ and ‘Highway’), where she peels off her good looks for good acting. The character of Sehmat feels realistic in Bhatt’s subtle hands. She fascinates and has the audience rooting for her right through the nearly two-and-a-half-hour film. I can only hope her star power will help the film reach more moviegoers.

 

In addition to its riveting plot and characters, ‘Raazi’ also boasts of terrific period production design. Much care has gone into giving the film a vintage look and style through, often the gentle interplay of Urdu language and Kashmiri cul­ture. Similarly, the songs penned by Gulzar (Meghna Gulzar’s father) and music by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy are well-crafted and evocative.

 

Raazi is a film where the women have the upper hand. Steered by a capable director, with a splendid performance of its female lead, it’s a wholehearted emotional ride and a pulsating thriller. Do not miss .