Movie Review: D-Day

Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Arjun Rampal, Huma Qureshi, Shruti Haasan, Sriswara, Aakaash Dahiya, Nasser and Chandan Roy SanyalDirector: Nikhil AdvaniRating" ***1/2

Published: Friday,Jul 19, 2013 14:49 PM GMT-06:00

India-Forums.com Bollywood Team

"Trigger keech, maamla mat keech. Kich gaya na toh bohot takleef doonga". Rishi Kapoor, the man who wooed his heroines singing songs wearing sweaters for almost 25 years has undergone a transition at this point in his career and trust me, we are not complaining at all. The man who turned villain for the first time with Karan Malhotra's Agneepath as Rauf Lala has outdone himself again as Goldman ( who apparently is Dawood like gangster) in Nikhil Advani's much awaited D-Day.

D-day is an espionage thriller and deserves an applause. For me, the film belongs to the effortless Irrfan Khan who is the most believable character in the plot as Wali Khan. This man has got his cake and finally is eating it too. From start to finish Irrfan is commendable and one can actually touch the emotional turmoil that he is going through in the film. A man who is caught up in emotions as to whether to sacrifice himself for his country or his loving wife Nafisa (Shriswara) and his son Kabir (Dwij).

A secret mission is planned to bring back 'India's Most Wanted' by R&AW and the team that is prepared to accomplish this mission is our smouldering cast. Arjun Rampal has brought back the angry young man on screen wit

h Rudra Pratap Singh who is an ex-army officer. Irrfan Khan definitely deserves a pat on his back as Wali Khan. Well, who says there aren't any substantial roles for our hindi film heroines? Huma Qureshi gives it right back to them by playing Zoya Rehman who has given up marital bliss for her love towards her country. Shruti Haasan appears briefly in the film as a sex worker and Aakash Dahiya as Aslam. While Aakash is good, Shruti on the other hand is abrupt sometimes.

While Irrfan is figuring out how to balance his love for his family and his country, Arjun and Shruti fall in love with each other in the sub-plot. Not disclosing much about the love they share for each other I would tell you that the film unlike almost all R&AW and ISI stories is NOT a lovestory. The director has made sure to not lose the plot in the middle of the love saga.

The best thing about Arjun in the film is his intensity. The way he has pulled off this character is quite commendable. The man who is a lost soul in the crowd looks suave and acts well. One scene that caught my eye was when he comes flying with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other only to stab a man in the neck. There sure is something about men with guns. What a scene!!!!

So the whole question behind the narrative is… would our secret agents be able to bring back India's Most Wanted Terrorist? Dead or Alive? Would they survive this race or would they give up?

One thing that has been very well done in this film is the research. The film is shot in Ahmedabad and yes it is believable as Karachi. The

characters are real, the sets seem real (especially the set of the brothel which absolutely looks authentic). The team has left no stone unturned in the research of this project and thankfully they have not gone the 007 way to show the Indian spy's. Thank you Nikhil for keeping this one real.

My favourite part in the film was the song Alvida. Nikhil Advani has beautifully shot this song and it touches the heart for sure. It makes you feel the loss the characters are feeling. Well, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have given good music once again in this one. They never disappoint us. The song Dhuaan that has been used in the climax of the film has a haunting feeling about it. It makes you want to grab on to your seats till the end.

I would want to bring the spotlight on Niranjan Iyengar and Ritesh Shah for the dialogues. The gritty one-liners are to look forward to. Especially the ones given to our very own Senior Kapoor.

While some are calling this one a piece of artwork, I would not give this film a ten on ten. It is definitely to watch out for but at some point the mercy less Goldman does become a comic character. Ther

e is a bomb-blast but this man does not even get a scar and is intact with his crimson coloured shades neatly fixed on his nose. The one thing that I found missing from this character was his ability to scare people as he is said to do. Frankly, he did not scare me much. I was intrigued to listen to what and how he says his lines but was not scared as I was in Rishi Kapoor's last negative venture as Rauf Lala.

The length of the film is a bit long. They could have cut down some scenes but none the less I would give a thumbs up to the team of D-Day and especially to the director for having guts to stay true to his research and showing whatever he wanted to without compromising. This one is definitely a watch for being different, courageous and awakening. Kudos team Dday!

Pratishtha Malhotra