“Raazi” Review: An engaging journey, and more than just a spy film!

Raazi is not just a spy film. It’s a film that seeks to understand the trauma of war and hate. It seeks to understand humanity and the extent to which a person may put his or her human conscience at stake for the love of their country. Unlike many spy thrillers, this one is not filled with massive stunts, exploding cars, and thrilling chases. Meghna Gulzars “Raazi” is more subtle and realistic in its approach, and ultimately more powerful as a result. It’s a tribute to our unsung heroes and is based on the novel ‘Calling Sehmat’ by Harinder Sikka.

Without giving anything away, ‘Raazi’ is about a Muslim girl Sehmat (Alia Bhatt) whose life changes when her father Hidayat Khan (Rajit Kapoor) seals her fate as an Indian spy. She undergoes rigorous training under Indian intelligence agent Khalid Mir (Jaideep Ahlawat) before being married off to Pakistani Army officer Iqbal Syed. This is when the real journey, into the unknown begins. While keeping her motives hidden from the family, she tries to gather vital information.

The screenplay is engaging.  What works best is how we see a young, innocent girl, being transformed into a spy. Yet throughout her journey, she never fully accepts her new role, as she assimilates into her new family. From within, she feels wrong, even though she is made to believe that what she is doing is right. This complexity is seen in the script, throughout the film. The journey of Sehmat is what hooks you. The moments between her and her father are noteworthy, along with the moments between newlywed Sehmat and her husband, Iqbal Syed. However, the most beautiful moments are between Sehmat and the intelligence agent, Khalid Mir. Those moments give a larger meaning to the film. 

The script moves fast, and is consistent.  Since this is a spy film, there are a few nice moments in which one scene works as a hint for something larger. There are times when we see a scene twice, but the second time around comes with a new revelation. This is well done. However, I’m not a huge fan of quick flashes towards an earlier scene for the sake of spoon-feeding some connection to the audience, as if they are incapable of connecting the dots themselves. Another flaw in the film is that since the film mainly focuses on Sehmat, we are not really emotionally invested in any of the other characters. If the film could have made us more emotionally connected to at least one of the characters from the “enemy” side, perhaps the outcome would have been more powerful than it is.

From a technical standpoint, editing stands out. Everything else is ok. Now to the performances. Alia Bhatt was a perfect casting choice for this film, and no doubt she carries the film on her shoulder!  Her expressions, body language, dialogue delivery, and the overall vulnerability that she brings to her character is pefect! She’s probably one of the best actresses from the recent bunch of actors in Bollywood. Meanwhile, Rajit Kapur is probably one of the most underrated actors in the film industry, and his performance in this film is evidence of that. Jaideep Ahlawat is wonderful as a man whose heart has turned rock solid due to the path he has chosen. Vicky Kaushal is decent. His character is fascinating, but whether or not he managed to bring it out perfectly is debatable.  All the actors have performed sincerely.  

Overall, this is a film that should be seen and has its heart in the right place. It is especially relevant for today’s day and age, and the social-political touch is what takes it ahead of other  spy films. After ‘Talvar’, Meghna Gulzar has once again proven that she knows how to make engaging cinema! So if you want to be engaged, watch ‘Raazi’.

4 out of 5 stars.