Raazi (2018)

English translation: Agreement

Director: Meghna Gulzar

Screenplay: Bhavani Iyer and Meghna Gulzar (based on the book by Harinder Sikka)

Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Jaideep Ahlawat

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Time: 140 minutes

Bottom-line: A smart thriller driven by Alia Bhatt’s powerful performance

One of the best Indian films in recent times to feature a female protagonist (another notable one being Kahaani), Raazi is a spy film directed by Meghna Gulzar – the daughter of Gulzar, who is also the lyricist for the film. The story takes place just before the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war. The book by Harinder Sikka, Calling Sehmat, is inspired by true events.

 

Bhatt as Sehmat

Sehmat Khan (Bhatt) is a college student in Kashmir. As her father’s dying wish, he wants her to serve the country like he did. She is married to a Pakistani Major General, Iqbal (Kaushal) to spy on him and his family. Sehmat is hastily given training by RAW agents, led by Khalid Mir (Ahlawat), but she picks up basic self-defence and Morse Code quickly. Once in the new house, she is liked immediately by everyone except for one manservant, Abdul. Despite her narrow escapes, she conveys whatever information she gets back to India, but she is eventually caught by Abdul. With no choice but to kill him, Sehmat finds herself in more trouble every day. She also starts to genuinely love her husband, and is caught between patriotism and humanity.

 

Kaushal as Iqbal

Like most military films, Raazi is also dramatised to make it more entertaining. There are also a couple of plot devices to keep the story going. Overall, I really liked the way the film maintained the tension, instead of making the story predictable. As Times of India said, Raazi makes use of emotions instead of explosions. Sehmat puts herself in a situation where she has to murder her family members to keep herself safe and also to help the Indian Army. There is one scene where Iqbal gifts Sehmat with her favourite Hindustani classical music record, and she surprises him with his favourite, pistachio. The encounter between them when Iqbal finds out her true nature is filled with emotion, because Sehmat does love him, but still has to do what her job demands.

 

Ahlawat as Khalid

Alia Bhatt’s performance in Raazi, Highway and Udta Punjab are arguably the best of her career so far. Be it her sigh of relief after her narrow escape, or her breakdown after murdering the manservant, or her sweet attitude to the children or her anger and sadness at Khalid towards the end, Bhatt excels at everything (though, the scene where she sings to the children has such an egregious change of voice by the dubbing artist that you might end up laughing like I did!). Kaushal and Ahlawat have done well too.

The score and soundtrack of the film are superb. The songs Ae Vatan and Dilbaro are composed and sung really well. The story gets a little difficult to follow because the Hindi is mixed with Urdu, and there are too many unnamed characters, but the film is a well-written, brilliantly acted thriller, that will guarantee entertainment. Worth the watch.

My Rating: 4/5