Ashdoc's movie review---D Day

ashdoc

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2010
Messages
2,980
Likes
3,682
Country flag
Dawood Ibrahim---Doyen of the Dons in the Indian subcontinent.....

A nightmare for the security establishment of India.....

A man who is India's most wanted but its possible to get him back only in our dreams....

.....For not only Pakistan will never let us capture him but our nation lacks the courage and the chutzpah needed to execute such dangerous operations---that's the cold truth.....

But it's the movies---all dreams and fantasy.....

Here we can do the things we could never do in real life....

And director Nikhil Advani has spun an excellent fantasy out of every patriotic Indian's dream---that of bringing Dawood to justice....

It tells the story of four RAW ( India's spy agency ) agents sent to bring Dawood back---all of whom look like real agents rather than the filmy spies who are impeccably clothed and who do superhero like stunts in movies . The places they stay in also have dingy feel about them and are totally unlike the expensive suites in posh hotels that filmy spies stay in .

In fact the whole film has a realistic feel about it---except for the romance between Arjun Rampal and Shruti Hassan , the impossibly beautiful prostitute with the scarred face .

For one thing , Pakistan is shown as the epicenter of all terrorist activities in India . This will gladden those like me who feel that Bollywood has acuired a paki appeasement habit in the last few years and shies away from showing Pakistan in a negative light .

As events unfold , places where actual attacks have taken place are mentioned continuing the film's realistic feel .

And the location of the film's story is in Karachi , which has been extremely well recreated by the film's makers---though obviously the film's shooting has been done in India .

So what's the story ??

One of the four RAW agents ( Irfan Khan playing the role of Wali Khan ) has been planted almost a decade ago in Karachi , and he has got so much involved in life there that he has acuired a Pakistani wife and has had a child from her there . And as events unfold , Wali's emotional attachment to them forms a major hindrance to the fulfillment of his life's mission---for his wife and child's safety remains uppermost on Wali's mind rather than the success of the mission , or so it seems....

The other three agents are newly brought from India---Arjun Rampal playing Rudra Pratap Singh who is an ex army officer , Huma ureishi playing Zoya who is an explosives expert and Aslam who was formerly a thief .

The parallels of this film with ' Zero dark thirty ' the Hollywood film on the killing of Osama Bin Laden can be drawn as both are based on similar themes---that of bringing to justice most wanted islamic terrorists of both nations . But what are more clear than the parallels are the differences....
.....For ' Zero dark thirty ' is film based on a real event as America really managed to kill Osama , while this film is wholly fictional as we haven't managed and will never manage to bring Dawood to justice....

And Maya , the main protagonist of ' Zero dark thirty ' was shown to have forsaken her personal life for her mission . On the other hand , our Bollywood characters are fully involved in their personal lives . Not only Irfan Khan has a wife and child , but Arjun falls in love with Shruti Hassan who is a prostitute . He even takes revenge on the man who scarred her face putting aside his work for a short period . Zoya ( Huma ureishi ) sees or rather hears her marriage break down on phone . Mercifully , Aslam the thief is too small a character for his personal life to be shown .

But what about the operation to bring back Dawood ??
As is true in real life , it's not so easy to get to him and the attempt to capture Dawood when he is attending his own son's wedding with the daughter of a Pakistani cricketeer gets botched up .

.....And like a real life agency , RAW ditches it's agents at the first hint of being exposed and the Indian govt ( headed by a titular Prime minister who is constant at the beck and call of ' madam ' ) declines to take responsibility for the operation....

The four agents are left out in the cold !!

Not only that , but their loved ones are also endangered....
The mafia is out to take revenge for Rudra's killing of the man who scarred the prostitute's face....
And Wali's plan to send his wife and child out of danger to London fails and his family falls in the lap of Pakistan's notorious ISI....

What to do ??

It's upto the agents to draw into their reserves of the capacity for survival , and draw even deeper into their reserves of patriotism to continue the mission without external support....

So can four benighted spies achieve what an entire nation cannot and does dare to do---capture Dawood and bring him back dead or alive ??

Go and watch the movie for that....
It would be an experience well worth your money spent....

The one unrealistic thing in the movie ( amidst all the realistic atmosphere of the movie ) is the attempt by the Pakistanis themselves to get rid of Dawood---he is the goose that is laying golden eggs for them , assuming correctly that Pak is crazy enough to think that killing innocent human beings through terrorist attacks is akin to laying golden eggs . So why would they try to kill him ?? Not believable....

Music however is not only good but hauntingly so , and I tried unsuccessfully to memorize the songs....

Acting by Irfan is good , decent by Arjun and Huma ; But Rishi Kapoor plays Dawood with aplomb---especially when he turns to his native marathi language in moments of anger . Shruti Hassan looks and feels sensuous and I kept regretting why she had a scar on her beautiful face---I wanted to run my hands on her non scarred cheek and feel its silken softness....

The movie gets better towards the end , and you get a feeling that events are really happening in Pakistan as they unfold . Action is gritty and the punches and kicks and bullet shots seem real . And so does the movie....

Verdict---impressive .
 

Decklander

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2012
Messages
2,654
Likes
4,111
Dawood Ibrahim---Doyen of the Dons in the Indian subcontinent.....

A nightmare for the security establishment of India.....

A man who is India's most wanted but its possible to get him back only in our dreams....

.....For not only Pakistan will never let us capture him but our nation lacks the courage and the chutzpah needed to execute such dangerous operations---that's the cold truth.....

But it's the movies---all dreams and fantasy.....

Here we can do the things we could never do in real life....

And director Nikhil Advani has spun an excellent fantasy out of every patriotic Indian's dream---that of bringing Dawood to justice....

It tells the story of four RAW ( India's spy agency ) agents sent to bring Dawood back---all of whom look like real agents rather than the filmy spies who are impeccably clothed and who do superhero like stunts in movies . The places they stay in also have dingy feel about them and are totally unlike the expensive suites in posh hotels that filmy spies stay in .

In fact the whole film has a realistic feel about it---except for the romance between Arjun Rampal and Shruti Hassan , the impossibly beautiful prostitute with the scarred face .

For one thing , Pakistan is shown as the epicenter of all terrorist activities in India . This will gladden those like me who feel that Bollywood has acuired a paki appeasement habit in the last few years and shies away from showing Pakistan in a negative light .

As events unfold , places where actual attacks have taken place are mentioned continuing the film's realistic feel .

And the location of the film's story is in Karachi , which has been extremely well recreated by the film's makers---though obviously the film's shooting has been done in India .

So what's the story ??

One of the four RAW agents ( Irfan Khan playing the role of Wali Khan ) has been planted almost a decade ago in Karachi , and he has got so much involved in life there that he has acuired a Pakistani wife and has had a child from her there . And as events unfold , Wali's emotional attachment to them forms a major hindrance to the fulfillment of his life's mission---for his wife and child's safety remains uppermost on Wali's mind rather than the success of the mission , or so it seems....

The other three agents are newly brought from India---Arjun Rampal playing Rudra Pratap Singh who is an ex army officer , Huma ureishi playing Zoya who is an explosives expert and Aslam who was formerly a thief .

The parallels of this film with ' Zero dark thirty ' the Hollywood film on the killing of Osama Bin Laden can be drawn as both are based on similar themes---that of bringing to justice most wanted islamic terrorists of both nations . But what are more clear than the parallels are the differences....
.....For ' Zero dark thirty ' is film based on a real event as America really managed to kill Osama , while this film is wholly fictional as we haven't managed and will never manage to bring Dawood to justice....

And Maya , the main protagonist of ' Zero dark thirty ' was shown to have forsaken her personal life for her mission . On the other hand , our Bollywood characters are fully involved in their personal lives . Not only Irfan Khan has a wife and child , but Arjun falls in love with Shruti Hassan who is a prostitute . He even takes revenge on the man who scarred her face putting aside his work for a short period . Zoya ( Huma ureishi ) sees or rather hears her marriage break down on phone . Mercifully , Aslam the thief is too small a character for his personal life to be shown .

But what about the operation to bring back Dawood ??
As is true in real life , it's not so easy to get to him and the attempt to capture Dawood when he is attending his own son's wedding with the daughter of a Pakistani cricketeer gets botched up .

.....And like a real life agency , RAW ditches it's agents at the first hint of being exposed and the Indian govt ( headed by a titular Prime minister who is constant at the beck and call of ' madam ' ) declines to take responsibility for the operation....

The four agents are left out in the cold !!

Not only that , but their loved ones are also endangered....
The mafia is out to take revenge for Rudra's killing of the man who scarred the prostitute's face....
And Wali's plan to send his wife and child out of danger to London fails and his family falls in the lap of Pakistan's notorious ISI....

What to do ??

It's upto the agents to draw into their reserves of the capacity for survival , and draw even deeper into their reserves of patriotism to continue the mission without external support....

So can four benighted spies achieve what an entire nation cannot and does dare to do---capture Dawood and bring him back dead or alive ??

Go and watch the movie for that....
It would be an experience well worth your money spent....

The one unrealistic thing in the movie ( amidst all the realistic atmosphere of the movie ) is the attempt by the Pakistanis themselves to get rid of Dawood---he is the goose that is laying golden eggs for them , assuming correctly that Pak is crazy enough to think that killing innocent human beings through terrorist attacks is akin to laying golden eggs . So why would they try to kill him ?? Not believable....

Music however is not only good but hauntingly so , and I tried unsuccessfully to memorize the songs....

Acting by Irfan is good , decent by Arjun and Huma ; But Rishi Kapoor plays Dawood with aplomb---especially when he turns to his native marathi language in moments of anger . Shruti Hassan looks and feels sensuous and I kept regretting why she had a scar on her beautiful face---I wanted to run my hands on her non scarred cheek and feel its silken softness....

The movie gets better towards the end , and you get a feeling that events are really happening in Pakistan as they unfold . Action is gritty and the punches and kicks and bullet shots seem real . And so does the movie....

Verdict---impressive .
I will watch this film based on your review but I must tell you that many plans were made to lift Dawwod out of Pakistan or kill him during his visits outside Pakistan only to be scuttled for some unknown reason by GOI led by Khangrass. BJP did authorise one such mission after Kandhar Hijacking but the plan did not take off due to logistics and hostile Sheikh Makhtoom who is biz partner of Dawood.
 

ladder

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
7,255
Likes
12,207
Country flag
Good review @ashdoc
The movie tried to be realistic which is a good thing but underplayed the institutional strength of ISI. An agency which even in the film is mentioned as it runs the country.
Apart from few patchy scenes towards the end and non-coded communication over non secure mobile network, rest was good.

Also, inclusion of 'madam' was damn good.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Sabir

DFI TEAM
Senior Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
2,116
Likes
793
More matured spy thriller by Bollywood... I like the movie....good pace, fabulous acting and last but not least it's a fiction based on fact... However in some places I think the director could not go beyond typical bollywood mashala pot.... the hero should have not wasted time witha prostitute and her enemies; afterall he is an undercover agent...Goldman's security should have been much more as he is based on image of Dawood Ibrahim, it is difficult for just 2-3 persons to break that in a fire-fight....Director needed to have some outstanding thought.... And their attempt to cross border on a car while ISI fail to locate them- not believable....
Otherwise a well made movie.... 3 .5/5 for me... You should not miss....
 
Last edited:

Sabir

DFI TEAM
Senior Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
2,116
Likes
793
Good review @ashdoc
The movie tried to be realistic which is a good thing but underplayed the institutional strength of ISI. An agency which even in the film is mentioned as it runs the country.
Apart from few patchy scenes towards the end and non-coded communication over non secure mobile network, rest was good.

Also, inclusion of 'madam' was damn good.
Yes, there are loopholes like the one you have mentioned ...but, if we consider it a start a trend, we can expect more matured spy thriller in coming days...............BTW the perfect spy thriller (100% genuin and no sh*t) will be so boring that nobody will watch...so some mashala is needed... But, important is how well it is cooked...
 
Last edited by a moderator:

EXPERT

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
503
Likes
329
thanx @ashdoc , for the review ..........
going to see the movie soon....
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Blackwater

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2012
Messages
21,156
Likes
12,211
@farhaan

@Alpha1

how many Pakistanis saw this movie illegally and pirately??:p:p:p
 
Last edited by a moderator:

sayareakd

Mod
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
17,734
Likes
18,952
Country flag
The day movie was released; internet was flooded with pirated copies.... Probably someone doesnt like the movie and wants to ruin the prospect of the movie...:scared2:
now a days it happens with every movie, they make lot of money, people like me who dont have time to go to movie, download it on mobile and watch it in free time or while travelling.
 

TrueSpirit

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Messages
1,893
Likes
841
Nice movie, original & fresh. Under the garb of a spy-adventure-thriller, it was a "human" drama that might appeal to many.

The characters were very well-developed, while the characterization itself was immaculate. Loved every frame of the movie.

However, there was a minor flaw in its editing towards the opening sequence, did anyone noticed what was it...?
 

TrueSpirit

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Messages
1,893
Likes
841
@ashdoc: Have you already reviewed "Man of Steel" & "Pacific Rim" ?

If no, how could you miss them (especially, Man of Steel) :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top