Raazi: Happening & taut spy-scraper

*ing: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Rajit Kapur, Shishir Sharma, Jaideep Ahlawat, Ashwath Bhatt, Amruta Khanvilkar, Soni Razdan

Rated: 8/10

Meghna Gulzar makes a wholesome comeback with this no-nonsense gritty spy thriller which dotes on its Spartan surrounds, a virtually true tag and an absolutely real-time performance put in by Alia Bhatt.

Spy thrillers always have a pull all their own, but this one is vibrantly resonant with real-time happenings that we all know about as part of our contemporary history. Set in the 1971 Bangladesh’s war of independence and adapted from Lt Commander (Retd) Harinder S Sikka’s novel Calling Sehmat, Alia (Sehmat) is sent in as a Kashmiri Muslim-Sikh girl with a family legacy for spying in Pakistan to further the cause of Indian Intelligence. It is refreshing to see an Indian Muslim from the Kashmir Valley talking of the right vatan in right earnestness, that too convincingly through a brief but happening role played out by Rajit Kapoor.

But for a brief introduction of the film through character actors, the film belongs to Alia from the time she enters the canvas. Director Meghna Gulzar, showcasing some great musical notes from her father Gulzar who dotes on independence time patriotic lyrics, focuses entirely on fleshing out Alia at the centre point but, at the same time, never forgets that the people around her need to be equally impactful which they are, including a delightfully under-toned Vicky Kaushal as Sehmat’s spouse. Their budding romance in the midst of patriotic needs is becoming and could have done with a bit more footage.

Alia’s job, for which she crosses over to Pakistan the legit way (by marrying a top-ranking Army officer’s son), is difficult, scary and sometimes jaw-dropping and much too audacious for a pint of a college girl who has no spooky mores other than an innate acumen of remembering all sorts of numbers at a glance.

Trained to pass on information that would benefit India, all set to go to war with Pakistan in 1971 over East Pakistan, she dangles death, deception and deceit with a stunning innocence and commitment that looks right, whichever side of the border you may hail from.

Meghna’s and her film’s beauty is that both steer clear of the usual trap of demonic portrayal of Pakistani Armymen and gives a convincing version of their life, times and the “Crush India” aspirations that have powered their establishment as a survival tool over the decades.

Sehmat’s Pakistani husband is upright as is the rest of her in-laws’ family. The two fall in love and understand each other’s love for their respective nations. Amid a penchant for jazz and Hindustani classical music, both make a normal life for themselves as any other ordinary couple would even as death do us part is never part of the plan for Alia.

The film is weightily written and has gravitas in slowly unfolding situations and dialogues that enhance the cloak and dagger ambience on which the story thrives. The proceedings are taut despite being on a gradual hunt and that’s where both the ladies of the film — one before and the other behind the camera — score along with their mount.

Raazi has gravitas, charm and tautness that make it a movie to go to this week. 

Source: The Pioneer, 13 May, 2018