Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Soni Razdan, Rajit Kapur
Director: Meghna Gulzar
Rating: 3 Stars (out of five)
Coming from Meghna Gulzar - the director of Talvar, a fantastic film about a true-life murder case that was brave enough to take a stand - this delicacy isn't surprising. Raazi, based on Harinder Sikka's novel Calling Sehmat, is about the daughter of a spy strategically turned into the daughter-in-law of an opposing spy, and Gulzar keeps the storytelling cut and dry, draining the film of jingoism as she lets the young girl go about her work.
Raazi movie review: Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal (courtesy Instagram)
The problem lies with the young girl herself. The first time we meet this character, Sehmat, she runs onto the middle of the road to rescue an imperilled squirrel - cute-meat if not a meet-cute - and the film's pitch changes immediately. Her father, normally restrained, starts speaking to her with overt exposition, suddenly parroting manipulative lines like a male Farida Jalal. "You know I work for the intelligence bureau," he tells his daughter, for some reason. ("War? Phir se?" is her line right after). Raazi was meant to be a realistic thriller but, thanks to Sehmat, it keeps spiralling towards cinematic melodrama.
Raazi movie review: Alia Bhatt in a still (courtesy Instagram)
The plot in itself is quite compelling, with fine parallels between a daughter-in-law winning over and fitting into her household contrasted with the reasons a spy would have for the same, but Raazi frequently makes itself hard to take seriously. For instance, despite her combat training, Sehmat can't seem to negotiate the climbing of a high stool, and there is also the niggling detail that nobody in this Pakistani family, a family of army-men and decoders of intelligence, ever thinks to suspect the Indian girl in their midst. As a result, the film is competently crafted but never gripping. The stakes feel dramatic but unreal, and the film feels slow as a result. It certainly doesn't earn its running time of two hours and twenty minutes. By the time the shrill climax comes around, dullness has set in.
Raazi movie review: Soni Razdan in a still (courtesy Instagram)
The film is centred, however, by the spymaster. As the operative who trains Sehmat, Jaideep Ahlawat is exceptional, creating a character who is steely and unflinching while also one whose heart is never in doubt. A superb, delicately poised performance.
With her innocent face and her round cheeks - that bounce with the recoil of the gun she fires - Bhatt really looks the part of the naive little operative, which is what makes it heart-breaking that she can't pull it off as well as she should. There is the constant sense of self-consciousness to her performance, making Sehmat seem like a girl playacting as a spy instead of an actual spy. That might clear the average bar for a mainstream Hindi film, but Gulzar and Bhatt deserve to be held to a higher standard. It's not enough to be Tinker Tailor Soldier Child.
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