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Review by Bhavna Singh
“Watan ke aage kuch nahi, khud bhi nahi.” – Sehmat Khan | Raazi 2018
I am the granddaughter of a grandfather who was in the army and I have only grown up listening to his stories through my mother. I never got to meet him, but I always feel as though I always knew him through those stories. My Friday movie partner is always my mom and she and I both walked out of director Meghna Gulzar’s film Raazi feeling a weight of patriotism sitting on our shoulders. That is just how impactful the film is.
Raazi takes you into the world of Sehmat Khan played by an actor of the industry who simply knows her craft, Alia Bhatt. A divine artist who somehow manages to get into the skin of all kinds of characters and convince us that she is that person, no one else. Alia carried the weight of this entire film on her shoulders from beginning to end and I have nothing else to say other than, “amazing.” I repeatedly always iterate I am happy to be part of this current period of Indian Cinema because we have actors like Alia Bhatt who floor us with her performances and never fail to offer us even more in future films to come.
I can’t figure out what was more impactful during my Raazi experience. Was it the constant patriotic and teeth wrenching moments. Or was it Sehmat undergoing a constantly mixed emotion between confidence, loyalty, and the feeling of guilt? Or was it just the whole film on a whole that was so beautifully and seamlessly put together? I’d say a bit of everything, and that’s who good Meghna Gulzar created this masterpiece.
Of course, the music of the film has been lingering in my head since it’s release. Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s music will always do that to you. From Ae Watan and Dilbaro my two favorite tracks from the film and extremely well picturized on the big screen.
All, and I mean, ALL of the actors on screen from every child to the women, to all the army men and more played the roles so perfectly. I felt as though I just opened a book and everything just appeared on-screen. None of it felt scripted, acted out and such.
Raazi is a must watch film! And while I have strayed away from giving stars to films this year, I’d say Raazi is a solid 5-star film no matter what.
Check out my favorite track Dilbaro!
