Two inheritors who have strived for
a niche of theirs own come together to give you a paradigm defying espionage
drama. This Indo Pak film for once has no chest beating jingoism. In fact, it
is about a India spy out there in Pakistan so little room to be judgmental in
the conventional block hole. Gulzar returned late in his cinema to a raw appeal
after starting with Mere Apne when he came to the near fag end of his
directorial career with Maachis. Meghna from Filaal to Raazi displays a fine
mix of poignancy and rawness. She is largely matter of fact, yet she allows the
narrative to wonder around human moments and gives you that fine mix of thrill
and concern that goes in making this espionage tale more than a thriller and
one swaying more towards a tale of human strengths and weaknesses.
Would you imagine a spy thriller with a lady as the protagonist? A spy who is
so scared of violence that she cannot see blood and is scared of a syringe
poke? A sleuth green in her ears but focused in her commitment? Welcome to the
world of Sehmat (Alia Bhatt) who is the daughter of Hidayat Khan (Rajit Kapoor
– in a brief yet impressive outing) and Teji (Soni Rezdan – nice seeing such
talented people come in for a look in our cinema). Sehmat is summoned from
college to play an under cover and is thus planted as the daughter in law of a
high-ranking army official in Pakistan Parvez Sayed (Shishir Sharma – yet again
in a reliable outing). His son Iqbal (Vicky Kaushal) is thus given in marriage
to Sehmat. While the entire family welcomes her with warmth and open arms the
old faithful domestic help Abdul (Arif Zakaria – again a welcome watch after a
while) smells a rat. He however restricts his suspicion to mere looks and
frowns, till it is too late. Back home once the decision is made, Sehmat is
trained in the art (?) by intelligence officer Khaleed Mir (Jaideep Ahlawat)
before she is sent to Pakistan to fend for herself. In what seems the loose end
of the script, Sehmat goes about establishing her hardware to keep her
communication lines in place and touches base with the Indian informers in
Rawalpindi.
East Pakistan under Mujeeb Rehman is fighting for freedom. The Pak army
believes and historically not without cause that there is an Indian connect to
the revolt. It is obvious that they have to quell the connect. While the
household at Parvez’s end is all hunky dory little do they realise that the
simmering bomb is in the household. The young bridegroom is a class act,
waiting for familiarity to breed acceptance. It happens soon. However, Sehmat
has her priorities right and is not just a fast learner but a practical one at
that. She passes on secret information that lead to the Khaji PNS sea battle
with INS Vikrant (made into a good Tollywood film starring the likes of Rana
and Atul Kulkarni).
However, the Pak intelligence is not caught napping. Even as they start
rounding off the Indian informers in Pakistan, Sehmat gets desperate, leaves a
few clues and stands exposed in the presence of her spouse Iqbal. Does she
escape, does she have a future with Iqbal. Does love get the better of
patriotism or is it the other way around.
The high point in the film is how Meghna never loses sight of the plot and yet
keeps it human. Fine performances from the entire cast adds value to the film.
Alia Bhatt with every outing is proving her amazing talent. If only Pooja was
given these opportunities!! Backed by a script and a role (not to mention the
empathy of a lady director) she makes full use and turns out a winner
performance. Matching her and sometimes truly more classy is Vicky Kaushal.
Restrained and dignified he does a great job and do not miss the scene where
realisation dawns on him. A fine piece of cinema.
Raazi may be a tad slow but is a fine experience and those who savour good
moments and subtle telling will find this outing soothing
L. Ravichander.