Movie Review: Raazi..more than acceptable fare

We are all acquainted with a certain stylish and suave super spy who claims to do all in the name of Queen and country, that too with a swagger that makes it look all too easy. Raazi is the story of another spy, who too goes above and beyond in the name of, well, country. Far from swagger though, for this one its all a struggle, presence of mind needed despite months of training and in place of the razzmatazz - a sense of quiet deftness as she goes about doing what she has been trained to do and hoping fervently that she can deliver on the high expectations set from her.

I've perhaps already given away much more than I intended to, but you can blame the trailers for that. One peek at the trailer and you already know too much about the storyline, build up and even climax to an extent. That, I believe, is one of the bigger flaws with how this movie will reach its audience. The classic dilemma of how much to give away in the trailer to attract audiences vs having a tightly woven plot with multiple twists and turns to keep the audience guessing and on the edge of their seat rears its ugly head with Raazi and spoils to some extent what is more than acceptable fare.

However, despite knowing exactly how things will play out, you still want to root for its protagonist, hope that things will work out well and dread that any moment things will turn nasty. Plaudits to the director and screenplay for keeping the interest going. They go for simplicity and realism rather than the sensational and that is why it works.

Surprisingly, Alia Bhatt is a bit of a mixed bag. She is by no means bad but she has set the bar so high for herself with the past movies that her performance can't be viewed from a rookie lens anymore. While her innocence simply radiates through, its an over effort on scenes where she is almost caught, that pulls her down a bit. Especially in the light of a strong supporting cast, especially her counterpart Vicky Kaushal who puts in a particularly admirable understated performance, her attempts seem to over-dramatize in sharp contrast. However, she considerably makes up for that in scenes of pure emotion - her tortured soul screaming for redemption. In fact, there is much depth about this character that we genuinely miss, but Alia brings some of it through from her portrayal alone.

There is no over-emphasis on background score, thankfully. Rather the tension is built through dialogues and code-words. The songs are nice and don't get in the way of the story. The spy act is pulled off particularly well. If there is room for improvement, its perhaps in getting to know our protagonist at a deeper level- the moral challenge or conflict she faces, how she chooses to overcome them and the story of her subconscious. Some elements of that would've really made this a complete drama.

However, that's nitpicking. There is much to appreciate with Raazi as it stands and it has more than my consent for a watch.