Raazi was released on 11 May 2018.[1] Made on a budget of ₹350 million (US$4.4 million), Raazi went on to gross ₹195.75 crore (US$25 million) worldwide,[3][5] emerging as one of the highest-grossing Indian films featuring a female protagonist.[16] It was also a critical success,[17][18] with Meghna's direction and Bhatt's performance receiving praise.[19][20]
Indian Army officer Lieutenant General Nikhil Bakshi addresses a group of Indian soldiers and officers including officer Samar Syed, aboard the Indian aircraft carrier INS Viraat, off the coast of Vishakapatnam. Stressing the importance of sacrifice in the performance of one's duty to the country, he relates the greatest example of such sacrifice he has ever seen by detailing the exploits of a 20 year-old girl while serving as an undercover agent of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India's external intelligence agency, in Pakistan.
The story flashes back to events preceding the Bangladeshi War of Independence, 1971. Hidayat Khan is an Indian intelligence agent posing as an informant for the Pakistani military. By appearing to be an Indian traitor passing secrets to Pakistan, he cultivates a close friendship with Brigadier Parvez Syed of the Pakistan Army. Through this friendship, Khan gets wind of a big operation Pakistan is planning against India. Because Khan is dying of lung cancer, he fears he will not live long enough to uncover the details of this operation. He, therefore, asks his 20-year-old daughter Sehmat, a student at the Delhi University, to take up his mantle by becoming an agent and entering into an arranged marriage with Syed's younger son, Iqbal, another military officer. Despite the tremendous sacrifice she will have to make, Sehmat readily agrees, declaring the paramount importance of her duty to her country over her personal desires.
Sehmat joins the RAW and is trained by senior RAW officer Khalid Mir and his assistant, a young Nikhil Bakshi. Despite her youth, Sehmat proves to be a quick study, surprising her superiors with her acumen and its application to intelligence work. During her training, Mir frequently emphasizes both the danger of Sehmat's mission and the sacrifices she will have to make. He reminds her that her duty to her country is more important than her feelings and that, if duty requires it, she will be considered expendable.
Khan uses his friendship with Syed to get Sehmat married to Iqbal. After marriage she moves to their army home with Iqbal in Rawalpindi, which is also the headquarters of the Pakistan Army. Sehmat wins the trust of the entire family except Abdul, Syed's trusted servant. She becomes close friends with Syed's friend's wife and the wife of Iqbal's older army brother, Mehboob. Her new husband (Iqbal) is patient, kind and understanding. He frequently apologizes to Sehmat for his father's denigration of Sehmat's native country. Feelings develop between the two of them, leading eventually to tender lovemaking. Despite her feelings, however, Sehmat remains true to her duty. She establishes communication channels with her handlers back in India and starts relaying information.
Brigadier Syed is promoted to Major General, which results in crucial documents and members of the country's defense forces passing through his house. Sehmat relays information on the planning of an offensive against India. The information points to a planned attack by a Pakistani submarine on the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, then deployed in the Bay of Bengal. Sehmat steals the confidential file from her father-in-law Syed, but in doing so, almost gets caught. When Abdul discovers Sehmat's communication tools in the bathroom, he realises she is an Indian spy. He rushes off to tell Syed who has just left, forcing Sehmat to run him down with an army jeep. This takes a heavy emotional toll on her. When Abdul gasps out Sehmat's name in the hospital before he dies, Mehboob suspects foul play. He starts an investigation. But, before he can get his information to the ISI, Pakistan's internal security agency, Sehmat reluctantly kills him by injecting him with poison. She is distraught at having widowed Munira, Mehboob's wife, and saves her from police interrogation. Realising that Sehmat's cover is about to be blown, Mir visits her in disguise and conveys to her an escape plan from Pakistan.
Iqbal finds Sehmat's communication tools concealed in Abdul's room. He also finds a piece of the anklet he had given Sehmat as a wedding gift, realising that she killed Abdul and has been spying for India all along. Heartbroken, he confronts her, forcing Sehmat to hold him at gunpoint. Iqbal tearfully asks if any of the feelings Sehmat had shown for him were real. Sehmat replies that everything she did, she did out of duty to her country. Iqbal tells her that, if she truly believes that, she now has no choice but to kill both Iqbal and herself to prevent them from being interrogated by the ISI. Just then, however, Mehboob's young son, whom Sehmat had been tutoring to sing a patriotic song for his school's annual Army Day celebration, rushes in and hugs her, giving her a chance to get away. When Sehmat nears the rendezvous point, she realises that her duty requires her to kill both the boy and her driver to prevent them from learning the secret of her identity. But, she cannot bring herself to do either. Giving them an excuse, she walks away. She arrives at the rendezvous point concealed in a burkha. Iqbal confronts her there, having notified the ISI. When Mir spots Iqbal and ISI agents at the rendezvous point, he orders his undercover RAW team to switch to "Plan B." The team shoots Sehmat and Mir throws a grenade, blowing up both Sehmat and Iqbal. In the resulting confusion, Mir and his team escape to a safe house. Sehmat then shows up at the safe house. She reveals that the woman Iqbal had confronted was actually another burqa-clad agent who had switched places with Sehmat and died in the blast along with Iqbal. Shocked by her husband's death and the fact that Mir was even ready to kill her, Sehmat realizes the insignificance of relationships and humanity in this line of work. Broken by the destruction of a family, she returns with the RAW team to her hometown. Shortly after arriving, she collapses and is taken to the hospital. Sehmat's mother visits her there with important information. But, Sehmat informs her that she already knows she is pregnant with Iqbal's child. She defiantly informs her mother that, regardless of any orders to the contrary, she will not abort the baby.
Newsreel footage reveals that, with the assistance of Sehmat's findings, the Indian Navy was able to sink the Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi before it could carry out its planned attack on the Vikrant. The film then flashes forward to Lieutenant General Nikhil Bakshi concluding his speech to the officers on the Viraat. Samar Syed is revealed to be Iqbal and Sehmat's son, implying that Sehmat's mother helped Sehmat go into hiding to prevent the authorities from aborting Sehmat's child. The film ends with an aged Sehmat living alone, staring out of a window of her home - apparently having been abandoned by the RAW, but having regained her humanity.
Since 2014, Priti Sahani, president of Junglee Pictures, was trying to acquire the film rights to Harinder S. Sikka's 2008 novel Calling Sehmat, which details the true story of an Indian woman secret agent married to a Pakistani army officer to provide the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) with confidential information prior to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[23] During the production of Talvar (2015), she got in touch with Meghna Gulzar and enquired if she was interested in directing a film adaptation of the novel.[23] Meghna agreed but was informed a few months later that the film didn't materialize.[23] In February 2016, she was approached by another producer to adapt the same novel, and she agreed again, thinking it was "a tad serendipitous" to be offered the same project twice.[23]
When talks on that proposal also fell through, Meghna decided she had "a karmic connection"[24] with Calling Sehmat given that Sikka had approached her father Gulzar to direct the film adaptation when the novel was released; she had developed a rapport with Sikka during previous meetings while discussing the production and told the author that they approach Sahani again for the film adaptation.[23] The talks were successful, and in December 2016, Meghna announced the project as her next film.[23] Meghna was drawn to the story as it was "an ordinary girl's extraordinary feat" and was "not chest-thumpingly anti-Pak, pro-India, pro-war sloganeering", and it being a true account "makes [the film] that much more powerful".[23] She tried to remain as true to the story as possible during production.[23]
Even though the film was set in the backdrop of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, it didn't feature action scenes unlike other films under the same backdrop since the story leads to the beginning of the war and not the actual conflict.[23] Meghna had heard stories of the war from her family members, having been born after the war was over.[23] She felt it was "an important milestone in [Indian] history" and was motivated to make the film as the story is important in present times when neighboring countries have non-cordial relationships.[23] Meghna said: "The human element makes it timeless. From my father’s friends in Pakistan, I understand that the lines are on paper and brought up politically but at the end of the day, we’re similar in our clothes, cuisine, and culture."[23]
In December 2016, it was being speculated that Alia Bhatt had been offered the lead role in the film,[25] a news which was confirmed to be true in April 2017.[26][27]Karan Johar's production house Dharma Productions came on board to co-produce the film along with Junglee Pictures in April 2017.[28] The casting of Vicky Kaushal was officially announced in June 2017.[29][30]
Filming
The filming process of Raazi began in July 2017[31] and the first schedule which took place in Mumbai was wrapped up by mid-August 2017.[32] Originally, the first schedule of Raazi was supposed to be held in Kashmir but due to the state of unrest in the valley, the makers decided to shift the shooting location to Mumbai where all the indoor scenes were filmed at a set created inside Film City.[33][34] The second schedule of the film took place in Punjab, where filming was done in Patiala and Malerkotla during August and September 2017.[35] The shooting in Patiala was stalled for a few days due to the violence that erupted after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on 25 August 2017 and the curfew that was imposed as a consequence of which.[36][37][38] After completing the Punjab schedule,[39] the production team of Raazi arrived in Kashmir on 17 September 2017 for a ten-day schedule where filming was done at Pahalgam, Shiv Pora in Srinagar and Doodhpathri in Budgam district.[40][41] The final schedule of shooting was supposed to take place in Punjab, but was completed in Delhi instead due to the unrest caused by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's arrest.[42][43] Filming came to an end on 27 October 2017.[44]
Costumes for the film were designed by Maxima Basu.
Controversy
Amidst a heated atmosphere of public anger and discussion during July 2020, Sikka alleged that Meghna changed the title of the film without his permission and he was not shown the director's cut of the film which was part of the contract. He also alleged that Gulzar and her father took a pro-Pakistani stand in the film, and that producers Jain and Johar attempted to discredit him.[45][46]
The author also claimed that Meghna Gulzar "tweaked" the story to demean RAW and praised the Pakistan Army.[47]
Vipin Nair of The Hindu gave the soundtrack 4/5 stating that it's "a gem of a soundtrack" and "wish the soundtrack were longer".[50][51]The Times of India's Debarati Sen, in her review, said the album is "definitely one to be heard on the loop". She further added that it is a "must for music lovers and Gulzar fans".[52]
The first poster of Raazi was released on 9 April 2018[53] through the official Twitter handle of the film, while the trailer of the film was launched on 10 April 2018.[54] The film was released on 11 May 2018.
Reception
Critical response
Raazi received universal critical acclaim.[17] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10.[55]
Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost termed the film as a heart-stopping, heartbreaking espionage drama and gave it 4.5 stars out of 5.[56]The Times of India rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, stating that "Raazi rewrites the spy-thriller genre with emotions, instead of explosions."[57] Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times praised Alia Bhatt's performance and gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "Raazi is a sensibly written and finely performed film that takes a close look at the ordinary lives of extraordinary people. Not to miss."[19] Shalini Langer of The Indian Express praised director Meghna Gulzar for not allowing Raazi to become a "chest-thumping spectacle of jingoism" and gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 saying that, "at a time when hate and anger are the currency of the subcontinent, a film like Raazi needs to be made."[20] Meena Iyer of Daily News and Analysis gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5, saying that, "Alia Bhatt-Vicky Kaushal starrer will blow your mind!"[58] Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com appreciated the acting performances of the film, its music composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, cinematography as well as editing, and gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "Raazi is a rarity. It is intense, riveting, clever, dark, sad, lyrical, heartfelt, relevant and understated."[59]Rajeev Masand of News18 gave the film a rating of 3.5, calling Bhatt the "beating heart of Raazi", and stated, "The film is admirable also because it's a measured, mostly intelligent thriller that asks us to consider concepts of patriotism and honor without spoon-feeding us with manipulative background music or provocative dialogue."[60]Bollywood Hungama gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5, saying that, "Raazi is an interesting thriller brilliantly narrated by Meghna Gulzar that makes for mature viewing. It is a film that celebrates nationalism that is devoid of the colors of religion."[61] Suhani Singh from India Today gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "Alia Bhatt steals the show in Meghna Gulzar's spy thriller".[62]
In a negative review, Kennith Rosario of The Hindu commented, "There's a lot going for Raazi yet there's a nagging lack of novelty – whether it is the film's plot, message or Bhatt's ability to cry."[63] Raja Sen of NDTV gave the film a rating of 3 out of 5 saying that, "There is a lot to like in Meghna Gulzar's spy movie, but Alia Bhatt makes it hard to take Raazi seriously."[64] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in said that, "Alia Bhatt shines in a muddled and improbable spy thriller."[65]
Box office
Raazi emerged as the tenth highest-grossing Hindi film of 2018.[66] It became the second film driven by a female lead to gross more than ₹ 100 crore nett in India, after Tanu Weds Manu Returns.[67] The film grossed more than ₹158 crore in India,[3] emerging as the highest-grossing film for Alia Bhatt, surpassing Badrinath Ki Dulhania.[68]Raazi has grossed a total of ₹2.07 billion (US$26 million) worldwide.[6][5]
^Zee Music Company (18 April 2018). "Raazi – Full Movie Audio Jukebox". YouTube. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018. See credits in description.
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