Raazi Review - Empowering, Not Patriotic

There’s a scene in Raazi where Sehmat holds a gun to one person she loves. She’s sobbing, signifying the pain and anguish she feels. She genuinely loves this person, but alas owes it to her country. I suspect that in a parallel universe, co-writer-director Meghna Gulzar held that same gun up against the patriotism that has been shoved down our throats in the current socio-political

climate we live in. Because Raazi isn’t a patriotic film, it’s an empowering one. Here, Gulzar, with co-writer Bhavani Iyer creates a 1971 that immerses you. Slowly, her protagonist’s victories and defeats become ours.

Raazi follows Sehmat (a stupendous Alia Bhatt), ‘ek maasum si ladki jise jasoosi ka ilm tak nahi hain.’ Sehmat is Kashmiri and studies in Delhi University. Her father Hidayat is dying. He wants her to continue his life work to continue spying against the Pakistanis. He marries her off to his Pakistani friend’s son, Iqbal (Vicky Kaushal). The thriller follows Sehmat as the ‘unlikely spy’ who fell in love. Gulzar takes this premise and fits it to suit her vision. Sehmat is vulnerable, saves squirrels at the cost of almost getting run over and cries frequently. Each of these things is used by Meghna to get us to like Sehmat more, but it isn’t manipulation that she is tapping into.

That is perhaps the film’s biggest victory. Gulzar’s last film, Talvar, which focused on the 2008 Noida double-murder case, was shot and narrated in a Rashomon style fashion - where everybody got to tell their side of the story. Of course, her narrative tipped towards the parents’ innocence but in Raazi she does nothing like that. The borders dissipate and my favourite scenes are where Sehmat and her family casually walk over the India-Pakistan border. It’s a scathing critique on the divide that the two countries have faced. Back to my earlier point, about the film being empowering not patriotic.

Here, Sehmat is us. She is also tired of having the patriotism shoved down her throat. A line that a lot of people mouth in the film is, ‘Vatan ke aage kuch nahi, khud bhi nahi.’ The skillful thing here is that Alia Bhatt mouths this dialogue as an obligation and not as a heartfelt patriotic speech. She throughout the film realises that there is something in front of the vatan. Her sanity. Alia masterfully adds her own strokes to Meghna’s artwork. The two collaborate seamlessly and create an environment of love that fully engulfs you, even as the thriller hits a crescendo. Meghna (except for a few scenes) never lets Raazi become a spy-thriller fully. This is mainly because of Sehmat and the circumstances befalling her.

Alia delivers what I feel is her best performance since 2016’s Udta Punjab, where she played a Bihari migrant. Sehmat’s inner conflicts are beautifully portrayed by Bhatt, signifying how far she’s come from the superficial Shanaya in Student of the Year. The cast aides her - especially Vicky Kaushal as Iqbal. There’s even Soni Razdan as Alia’s mother. Soni gets minimum scenes but won me over, especially during the song sequence ‘Dilbaro’. I urge you to keep a close watch on Soni’s expressions during that montage and your heart will break into tiny pieces. Meghna’s other big asset is the team of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Gulzar saab.

The tracks ‘Ae Watan’, ‘Raazi’ and especially ‘Dilbaro’ are high points throughout the film. I left the theatre humming along to Arijit Singh’s ‘Ae Watan’ long after it was over. Gulzar’s lyrics are special things. Each lyric inserts depth into the narrative and Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s scintillating track is a high note in their discography. Vicky Kaushal too deserves a special mention. Vicky has sincerity, and injects Iqbal with a likableness that no other actor could. He is aided again by Meghna’s decision to break down the borders between India and Pakistan. Unlike in most Hindi films, the Pakistanis aren’t portrayed as barbaric, awful people who are leeches compared to the Indians. They are loving folks, including Brigadier Syed, played by a controlled Shishir Sharma. There’s a gorgeously made scene where he breaks down in his study after the death of a close one. Meghna makes you feel as if you’re a part of this loving family and that is a big win, considering the tricky topic the film talks about.

I doubt I’ll see a better film than Raazi this year. It’s heartfelt and heartbreaking at the same time. Coming back to Gulzar He is Indian cinema’s only lyricist that can, through the course of 5 minutes, break your heart and insert childlike whimsy. Here, his daughter does the same except over the course of 2 hours and 20 minutes. This is a worthy follow-up to Meghna’s Talvar, a brilliant espionage thriller. Raazi is one hell of a film. I’m going with 4 stars.