Movie Name:Raazi
Critics Rating: 4 / 5
Release Date: May 11
Director: Meghna Gulzar
Genre: Indian period thriller film

Alia Bhatt and Meghna Gulzar have come together for the first time. Needless to say, the powerful duo has churned out a masterpiece on silverscreen. Patriotism, an emotion that seems to have escaped the minds of the people, has been confined to only textbooks and songs. Multitudes of films have been helmed with patriotic connotations but not many among them stay with you for long. Most of the flicks are restricted only to the patriotism of the uniform-clad populace. However, with Raazi, Meghna Gulzar has an entirely different patriotic tale to tell; story of a demure 20-year-old Kashmiri girl whose life takes an unprecedented turn during the Indo-Pak War of 1971.

Raazi Plot

Raazi’s plot consists of a 20-year-old college-going Kashmiri girl whose father marries her off to a Pakistani officer to bring classified information to Indian armed forces. Alia Bhatt has essayed the role of Sehmat, who carries forward the legacy of her father, grandfather of serving the nation as freedom fighters and ‘Mukhbirs’ (Informer). Learning about her father’s terminal illness, she steps into his shoes of passing information from Pakistani army personnel to Indian Intelligence Bureau. However, she develops a bond with her Pakistani in-laws and husband who are equally fond of her. This journey of an unsuspicious college girl into a spy culminated into Raazi.

One Word Verdict: Raazi is a story every Indian needs to know.

When you read Meghna Gulzar’s name next to the Director, your expectations automatically shoot up to the skies. Making her debut with critically-acclaimed film Filhaal, the filmmaker proved that she’s here to stay. After last venture Talwar in 2015, Meghna Gulzar came back with a bang with an out of the ordinary tale, Raazi. Coming straight to the point, Raazi’s major highlight is the taut screenwriting. The flawless work by Meghna Gulzar ensured that the film never falls short of audience’s attention throughout its runtime. Raazi’s duration is around 2 hours 18 minutes, but never at any point of the film will you find the screenplay going astray.

Coming to the casting, as most of the ace filmmakers have said; half of the work is done with the right star cast. We couldn’t have imagined Raazi without Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal. In fact, all the supporting characters are irreplaceable in the film. Jaideep Ahlawat makes us forget that he’s an artist and not an intelligence officer everytime he made an appearance. The iron-spirited Khalid Mir’s screen presence had an equal impact as Sehmat’s. Vicky Kaushal as a gullible Pakistani officer and a loving husband nails the art of subtlety once again. He has neither overplayed nor underplayed his character. All the emotions went into right proportions in his role.

Alia Bhatt has been raising the bar for herself as well for her contemporaries one film at a time. When she aced the ‘Veera’ in Imtiaz Ali’s masterpiece Highway, we touted it as her best performance ever. Now, the actress has surpassed her own benchmark with Raazi. Her face is so expressive like a canvas, that every emotion right from love, anger, hatred and fear are portrayed in the most realistic manner. It’s the USP of the actress that she can nail any role, however taxing it might be. After Raazi, it’s going to be really difficult for Alia Bhatt to get past her own set levels. That’s an achievement in itself.

In a nutshell, Raazi is not only about patriotism. It would be unfair to dub it as war film. It’s more than patriotism. Apart from putting focus on Sehmat’s undying love for nation, Meghna Gulzar has also given us an insight on what goes into a war. The numbers are known for the loss of lives at the battlefield, but the impact it has on the lives of those indirectly involved in it, often goes unregistered. Sehmat was one such woman whose life was sent into commotion because of two countries who can never share an amicable relationship. The price of a war is paid by Sehmat’s in-laws who never meant any harm to their darling daughter-in-law and also by Sehmat herself.

Watch the film to know how far one can go for the love of their country. Watch the film to know one among many stories about the unsung heroes who never sought acknowledgement in return of their sacrifice. We bet it won’t disappoint you.