Remember Ravindra Kaushik , who
did a commendable job as a resident RAW agent by penetrating deep into Pakistan Army and
providing Indian Intelligence with vital information before he was captured and
jailed for life. Probably you won’t remember. That is the destiny of undercover
intelligence officers who are torn between multiple identities, live a faceless
life and die an unsung Hero’s death. Yes D day is as much about Dawood as it is
about those undercover agents who sacrifice their lives in foreign land and don’t
ever get recognition or even a burial worth their effort.
Nikhil Advani pulls out his
trigger to tell an intriguing story in a remarkable fashion, mixing facts with
fiction. D-Day opens with much promise with a visual from the 1993 Mumbai blast
and uses flashback to reveal how the four RAW agents went on a mission to
capture India’s most wanted man. Their journey across Pakistan to capture the
wanted Iqbal, nicknamed Goldman (obvious reference to Dawood) is packed with
high octane action and tremendous emotional turmoil. Advani takes the risk of portraying
the human side of an agent by delving deep to capture Irfan’s love for his wife
and Kid, Arjun’s emotional catharsis with a forlorn prostitute at Napier Road
and Zoya whose dedication towards her duty comes in way of her marital bliss.
Advani also captures the dirty
political and bureaucratic game, where the unfortunate agents end up being a
sacrificial lamb, as the mission fails. Giving up everything in the lines of “Duty,
honor & country” and then being disowned by your own nation to die in a foreign
land can be a harrowing experience. And Irfan beautifully enacts this disappointment
through his despondent expression.
The music is completely in sync
with the plot and you must listen to “Murshid Khele Holi” as it touches various
emotional chords. “Alvida” is probably the most macabre love and longing song
ever captured on camera in Hindi Cinema with blood stains all around. The lyrics and imagery transport you to a
world where you feel the pangs. The action sequences are very well filmed and
the camera work is gritty.
What pulls down the movie is the
fictional liberty the script has taken. For a film which was so well researched,
blunders like the agents moving and killing openly on Karachi roads to avenge
their beloved’s death is hard to understand. Also Rishi Kapoor’s talent is
vastly underutilized.
D- Day is no “Zero Dark Thirty”, but
it certainly is a statement on how technically Indian cinema has improved and
testament to an increasingly mature audience. As you come out of the multiplex
do spare a thought for those innumerable long forgotten faceless and fearless
agents whom death even could not provide identity. I will go out with 3 out of
five for a movie that thrills and shrills you.
