Raazi Review
Based on a book called Sehmat Calling, Raazi tells the story of a college going girl Sehmat who has to listen to her fathers last wish of becoming an Indian spy and marrying the son of a Pakistani general. Set during the backdrop of the 1971 war where Pakistan was losing grip over East Pakistan, Raazi gets straight to the point. Its wonderfully no nonsense yet very sensitively portrayed. Thats the beauty of the movie.
It starts with Rajit Kapoor - Sehmats father not having much time to live with a cancer. He calls Sehmat from college , talks about his plan. Since this is 1971 and following your fathers footsteps and wishes was the norm rather than the exception ( now the exceptions are filmstars sons and industrialists sons) , Sehmat agrees. Although her reel and real mother Soni Razdan hardly gets any screen time, the scenes between Rajit Kapoor and Sehmat are well done.
Meghna Gulzar in this movie has everything in Rujuta Divekar type proportions - touching but not sentimental, serious but not dull, engaging but measured , thrilling but giving space to all characters. So the mind gets the nutrition without the overload.
Alia Bhat makes the character her own. She is nervous but determined. Her anguish at the end of the movie is wonderful to watch.
The movie while being a spy thriller , is also a good love story. Vicky Kaushal plays the groom Alia gets married to. The surprising part of the movie and somewhat unbelievable is the Tehzeeb and restraint shown by the Pakistanis general family. They seem really nice. Our standard expectation would be a ruthless cunning family, since its a highly senior general and the two sons are also in the army. The slow build up of love between Alia and Vicky simmers nicely like a slow cooked dal.
As the tension increases when Sehmat gets found out by the servant in the house, and she finds more information about the use of Pakistani naval force against India the movie gets into the thriller mode. and how she escapes Pakistan froms the rest of the movie. If you had seen the movie Ghazi Attack , the criticality of this information for India and the need to thwart Pakistans submarine ploy will hit you harder.
However the movie also ends with the human effects of war where clearly nobody wins. Its the families who eventually live with the deaths of close members and memories that can be traumatic and life long. One remembers the song sung by Hariharan in Border.
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