Review of Raazi (2018) by Sagar M — 22 May 2018

Patriotism sells well. If you can combine it with a gripping story, that's even better.

Raazi sees Alia take on the role of Sehmat, an Indian spy who marries a Pakistani Army officer to send intel back to India. It's not a role she takes up because she loves her country, but because her father hands down this responsibility. All of 20 and barely trained in being a spy, she sets off to Pakistan as a newly-wed.

A movie like this relies on the believability of its stars. That's something that it delivers in the career-making performance of Vicky Kaushal, who plays the (eventually doomed) husband. Alia is believable as well, holding her own in scenes setup like horror movie jump-scares - you know it is thrilling because the film tells you it is. Shankar Mahadevan's background score helps accentuate this feeling well.

On the downside though, you're slapped out of your suspension-of-disbelief when Sehmat spends way too long screaming and lashing out at the officer who trained her near the end of the movie. Her inner conflict & anger at what happened seems to not understand a basic thing anyone who is a spy or in the military would understand: collateral damage.

Some of the movie, though thrilling, feels too easy like when Sehmat plants an "orgy of evidence" against the trusted servant (who she killed earlier). On the plus side, the relationship between Sehmat and her husband is handled with care so that it never seems too fast. That they make out for the first time while Sehmat is mourning her father's death was cringe-worthy but you let it go as quickly as the movie itself does.

Movies like Baby & Special 26 keep you hooked the whole time and the stakes in those movies are pretty low, compared to here where a full-fledged war between India & Pakistan is almost certain. Yet, those higher stakes are never really communicated and it feels like a normal suspense thriller with a patriotic tinge.

There's a monologue about the casualties of war by Kanwaljit at the beginning that features Sehmat and Iqbal's son as one of the officers listening in, which picks up after the movie as well. I'm not sure why this was necessary, because I didn't feel it helped setup or finish the story in any way.

One thing I did like was the fact that none of the Pakistanis (army men or otherwise) were depicted as maniacal or hardliners. They were treated as citizens who feel a sense of duty towards their country, much like Sehmat.

All in all, a good ride, but not close to a masterpiece.