Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal starrer Raazi is based on Harinder Sikka’s novel titled Calling Sehmat. The film is a true story of a Kashmiri girl married to a Pakistani soldier in order to extract information for the Indian Intelligence Bureau during the 1971 tensions.
Patriotism is a tried and tested formula when it comes to Bollywood. Patriotism always somehow seems to work, our countrymen may not be united otherwise but when it comes to cricket and movies, patriotism is something that always works! Emotion is another formula that we Indians love in our movies and TV shows, no wonder the saas-bahu shows full of emotion and drama still survive. Raazi is all about patriotism and is full of emotional moments so we have a winner right there. Director Meghna Gulzar has cleverly added a whole lot of compassion to it too!
Image Credit: Movie – Raazi
What makes Meghna’s patriotic film different from the others is that unlike most Bollywood films based on patriotism, there are no ‘ghisa pita’ heavy duty dialogues, yet she manages to bring out that patriotic feeling minus all the loud dialogues. That’s not all she manages to keep the audience at the edge of the seat and wondering what will happen next. One particular scene where my heart was literally in my mouth was where we wait for Sehmat’s safe escape. There are many such scenes which are thrilling yet at the same time leave you feeling emotional. What is also interesting is the way the enemy has been portrayed in the film. The enemy or the villain as we would put it,have been given the same respect as the protagonist and you feel a sense of respect for them too.
The film is crisply edited and the performances are realistic. Alia as the spy who moves from being the innocent girl to the spy who is ready to do anything for her country is brilliant and impressive! Alia as Sehmat is very real, human and has her moments of fear, she even breaks down but at the same time is brave. She makes the audience feel her frustration, anger, sadness and there are times when she says nothing at all yet expresses so much with her eyes. Alia plays her role to perfection and takes the film to the next level.
Image Credit: Movie – Raazi
Vicky Kaushal as Alia’s husband Iqbal and the army man from Pakistan does a great job too. Unlike how Pakistani men are normally shown in our films, Iqbal is an understanding, soft-spoken man, yet patriotic about his own mulk at the same time.
Image Credit: Movie – Raazi
The supporting cast; Arif Zakaria, Soni Razdan, Shishir Sharma, Rajit Kapoor, Jaideep Ahlawat Ashwath Bhatt need a special mention too. All of them have done a remarkable job. All of them have added to make the film a great watch.
Raazi has all the elements of an espionage thriller minus the unwanted, over the top dialogues, sequences, performances. Raazi says a lot without saying much. All in all is gripping and sure to keep you on the edge of the seat and make you all emotional at the same time! Raazi is a brilliant watch, go catch it this weekend!
Read Also: Raazi Music Review – Every Track Is Complete With Patriotism
