Raazi Movie Review
First off a confession. I am biased towards movies with strong female protagonists. So those not sharing my bias should deduct a few points off my rating !!
Raazi is a fictionalised and dramatised account of a true premise - A Kashmiri girl gets married into a Pakistani Army family in order to spy for India and she provides crucial intelligence which helps India win the 1971 war against Pakistan.
There are several things going for Raazi : the premise / plot line itself is fascinating, almost incredulous, proving yet again that life indeed is stranger than fiction. Unlike in Hollywood, There have been very few movies made about India’s surveillance and intelligence - ones that show the brilliance, the courage and the patriotism of Indian spies- that in itself makes this movie unique. There is that almost pitch perfect mix of being a spy thriller along with being a human story about vulnerable people- there are no superhero’s and there are no villains. Then there is treatment of characters - each one lovingly etched out , without resorting to caricature. There is subtle patriotism - patriotism is a given here - no fancy dialogues or long monologues. The director also avoids falling into the usual Bollywood trap of depicting Pakistanis as evil or stupid - these are all warm caring patriotic men and women Finally there is the sensitive depiction of the cost espionage extracts - in terms of not just innocent unsuspecting lives, but the lasting damage it leaves on the psyche of those doing the spying. But what makes the movie so damn brilliant is it’s casting - Alia bhat is so good as Sehmat - she sucks you into her character and you are sitting at the edge of your seat, biting your nails and praying she doesn’t get caught - and taking her emotional journeys with her. But a film like this is made by its character actors - be it Vicky Kaushal as her husband, Jaideep Ahlawat as the spy who trains Alia, Rajit Kapoor as the father who puts up his daughter to spy for India or Arif Zakaria - the faithful servant of the Pakistani family, the casting is absolutely perfect. This is a movie you walk out of, not just feeling super proud to be an Indian , but also really small and grateful - there are thousands of spies - anonymous soldiers who put their lives at risk every single day - and who can never get recognised or awarded for the work they do - so that people like us can wake up, go to work, eat in restaurants, go watch a film and speak our minds. Our freedom is possible, because these people willingly give up theirs. Salute to them! Rating 4.5/5!
First off a confession. I am biased towards movies with strong female protagonists. So those not sharing my bias should deduct a few points off my rating !!
Raazi is a fictionalised and dramatised account of a true premise - A Kashmiri girl gets married into a Pakistani Army family in order to spy for India and she provides crucial intelligence which helps India win the 1971 war against Pakistan.
There are several things going for Raazi : the premise / plot line itself is fascinating, almost incredulous, proving yet again that life indeed is stranger than fiction. Unlike in Hollywood, There have been very few movies made about India’s surveillance and intelligence - ones that show the brilliance, the courage and the patriotism of Indian spies- that in itself makes this movie unique. There is that almost pitch perfect mix of being a spy thriller along with being a human story about vulnerable people- there are no superhero’s and there are no villains. Then there is treatment of characters - each one lovingly etched out , without resorting to caricature. There is subtle patriotism - patriotism is a given here - no fancy dialogues or long monologues. The director also avoids falling into the usual Bollywood trap of depicting Pakistanis as evil or stupid - these are all warm caring patriotic men and women Finally there is the sensitive depiction of the cost espionage extracts - in terms of not just innocent unsuspecting lives, but the lasting damage it leaves on the psyche of those doing the spying. But what makes the movie so damn brilliant is it’s casting - Alia bhat is so good as Sehmat - she sucks you into her character and you are sitting at the edge of your seat, biting your nails and praying she doesn’t get caught - and taking her emotional journeys with her. But a film like this is made by its character actors - be it Vicky Kaushal as her husband, Jaideep Ahlawat as the spy who trains Alia, Rajit Kapoor as the father who puts up his daughter to spy for India or Arif Zakaria - the faithful servant of the Pakistani family, the casting is absolutely perfect. This is a movie you walk out of, not just feeling super proud to be an Indian , but also really small and grateful - there are thousands of spies - anonymous soldiers who put their lives at risk every single day - and who can never get recognised or awarded for the work they do - so that people like us can wake up, go to work, eat in restaurants, go watch a film and speak our minds. Our freedom is possible, because these people willingly give up theirs. Salute to them! Rating 4.5/5!
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