Recently, there has been a spurt of patriotic movies in bollywood. But this one is not just another addition to this list!
I was a bit sceptical about this movie produced by Dharma Productions who don\’t have a notable patriotic movie against their name, atleast none that I could recall. Also produced by Vineet Jain, MD of Times of India\’s parent company, which had famously launched the Aman ki Asha which did not seem practical at all!!
But the storyline was interesting and I decided to give it a shot. The film begins with transition of Sehmat from a simple college going, faint hearted, oblivious and innocent girl to a vigilant, ready to retaliate and ruthless-for-her-motherland girl on a mission. What ensues is a thrilling journey into the buildup to the 1971 Indo-Pak war and Pakistan\’s intimidation plan. Some time into the movie, one can make out what the plan is if he/she has seen a recent movie on that war.
Alia seamlessly plays the role of Sehmat cracking one code after the other. She nicely potrays the selfless, sacrificing, always-on-your-toes life of a spy. I don\’t like how star kids, or for that matter any celebrity kids, are discounted for their talent and performances. Not all celebrity kids make it big and not all of the talent comes directly from their parents! Rajit Kapoor plays her patriot father, for whom the country is above everything else. Arif Zakaria as Abdul though barely has any dialogue, speaks a lot through his expressions and body language. Vicky Kaushal plays the subtle but patriotic Pak army officer. All others have played their parts well too! Meghna Gulzar has been able to get the best performances out of her cast and has eloquently reconstructed 1970s Pakistan without demonising the neighbour. Another masterpiece by her after Talwar! Retired Lieutenant Commander Mr. Harinder Sikka put in a lot of efforts to pen down the novel \’Calling Sehmat\’, the true story on which this movie is based!!
One instance where Abdul, the loyal servant uncovers Sehmat\’s secret and frantically keeps on running from a Brigadier\’s house till he is killed by her couple of minutes later, without anyone even noticing them in an army area seems absurd! That is the only shortfall that I could notice…
Rightly described as \’A story of sacrifice, valour and honour!\’