Film: Aiyaary (espionage thriller)
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpayee, Rakul Preet Singh, Pooja Chopra, Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Vikram Gokhale, Anupam Kher, Kumud Mishra and Adil Hussain
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes
Language: Hindi (U/A)
Story : Two army officers — Col Abhay Singh (Manoj) and Major Jai Bakshi (Sidharth) — the mentor and protege of a military intelligence team of the Indian Army are ever ready to sacrifice their lives for the country. Until Jai discovers some dirty secrets that could jeopardise the institution, the government and the country. Jai then decides to go rogue. Now it is Abhay’s mission to protect the interests of the army and the nation, even if he has to kill his protege for it. How Abhay saves the situation forms the crux of the story.
Review: The movie begins on an interesting premise and in 15 minutes you see both Col Abhay Singh and Major Jai Bakshi being called traitors for deserting the army. The flashback takes us to the DSD - Data & Systems Diagnostics — a militarily intel team led by Abhay that conducts covert missions for the Army. While he’s away on one such assignment, Jai conducts surveillance on several important people and discovers how the arms-dealing lobby, through Retd Lt Gen Gurinder Singh (Kumud Mishra), is threatening to blow their cover, jeopardise the DSD and put the institution in a tight spot. Disillusioned, he decides to go rogue. Not surprising then that when Abhay learns about his desertion, its up to him to safeguard the interests of the institution at any cost, including putting a bullet through Jai.
Given the subject, one would expect a taut thriller, more so from Neeraj Pandey, who has delivered with A Wednesday, Special 26 and Baby. However, this one lags. Even though the critical parts seem to draw references from the kickbacks for arms deals and the Adarsh Society scam, the proceedings somehow don’t seem to be holding you with rapt attention.
The filmmaker may have good intentions in cinematically avenging the attack on an Army camp in Uri (in 2016), but it doesn’t really add to the film except the duration. In keeping with the title derived from ‘aiyaar’ which means master of disguises, you get to see the lead players sporting a few looks — some convincing and some not so much. Mission Impossible, anyone?
And when you think the story is reaching its logical conclusion, he gives you another twist leading to the climax.
Manoj reaffirms why he’s one of the best actors in the country today. He seems to relish the character and that shows in his performance. He is simply brilliant in every scene. Sidharth convincingly essays the dilemma of the young generation army man who is disillusioned to see that the people they protect could turn them out. As the hacker Sonia Gupta, who falls in love with Jai, Rakul is easy on the eye. Pooja Chopra as Captain Maya Semwal is strictly okay. Anupam Kher seems under-utilised as a London-based intel asset. Vikram Gokhale makes you feel for his General Pratap Mallik when faced with a threat to his military intel team. Naseeruddin Shah as Babulal Shastri is a delight to watch, though his most prominent part comes towards the end.
Though Sanjoy Chowdhury’s background score heightens the drama of during the course of the movie, it needed considerable subtlety to keep your eyes glued to the onscreen drama.
Tip: It’s an interesting film for those feel strongly for our army. And, of course Manoj's performance should certainly not be missed.
Critic’s Rating: 2.5 / 5
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 "Aiyaary: Manoj Bajpayee, Sidharth Malhotra")
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