There is a lot of good in the movie, but there is a lot which feels incomplete as well. There are some brilliant dialogues and wonderful acting, but there is a certain lack of depth and connect as well.
Raazi is a movie which tends to be real but which doesn't really feel like one. As a story, there are a few gripping moments but overall, it does tend to be a bit dull.
What starts as a mindset of putting country over anything else ends up in a life which isn't valued at all. The amount of sacrifices some people make go unnoticed so easily that you feel such people have been betrayed by life itself.
Based upon the happenings of 1971, Raazi is a thriller which shows how a young girl of an Indian intelligence officer is sent to Pakistan to find out secret information relating to war. How a college going girl trains for the country, risks her life for the country, takes unwanted actions for survival and how she's been forgotten in an instant is what Raazi is all about.
The main aim of this movie was how a daughter easily agreed to risk her life for the country because her Father said so but all that I could learn from the movie is that how worthless is a human being's life. No one quite remembers the sacrifices, it's only about being greedy and selfish.
Direction by Meghna Gulzar is decent but screenplay isn't quite engaging enough. Dialogues are superb and a huge value addition in Raazi. One dialogue which impressed was "Zindagi Mein Kabhi Cigarette Nahi Pi, Lagta Hai Kashein Kuch Jyada Le Li Hai." Editing according to me could have been more compact and music was average at best. I guess Vishal Bharadwaj should have been the music director for Raazi.
Coming to the performances, Alia Bhatt is excellent in her portrayal of a young girl turning into a strong one for the need of the country. Vicky Kaushal is decent whereas Shishir Sharma is his usual self. Rajit Kapur was brilliant and so was Jaideep Ahlawat. Jaideep had a tough role and he delivered it really well. Amruta Khanvilkar looked beautiful with the right expressions and Arif Zakaria was terrific as Abdul. It was wonderful to see Arif back in action and delivering a wonderful performance.
Despite vigorous training, the girl fumbled while just coming down from a table, that too when she hadn't been physically down during that time. Also, the family never doubting their daughter-in-law's actions isn't quite believable. So many innocent people lost their lives for no fault of their own. This is just what is wrong with the world!
All in all, Raazi has good intentions to show how some gems go unnoticed in this world. But it also shows how there's just no value of a human being's life. Once a person seems of no use or when the purpose is served, that person is taken for granted and is never being given any help as well. I would rate it 2.5/5.
