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Tuesday, September 17, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD D-DAY
EDITOR'S PICK
'D-Day'
acutely accomplished work of art
Rating: 4/5
Fragrant pencils and the stench of blood... Irrfan's character identifies
flavoured pencils with his undying love for his son even when his life is soaked
in the blood of traitors and other modern-day heroes. Funny, how two entirely
disparate experiences can co-exist in a work of art!
And make no mistake, Nikhil Advani's sixth feature film is an acutely
accomplished work of art. It's a thriller, yes. About the enforced extradition
of a Dawood-like gangster.
But what I came away with was a haunting love story between a mysterious Indian
intelligence agent and a Pakistani sex worker, both wounded and scarred for
life. She in ways that we can see. He in intangible ways. But pain, at the end
of the day, is pain. It's what binds together the sex-worker and the ex-army
man.
Shot in an expertly constructed brothel sets with the crowded colours of lurid
sex suggesting the tragedy of lives lived in borrowed beds, the scenes between
Arjun Rampal and Shruti Haasan are punctured by piercing silences and a haunting
melody about love, loss and incomplete lives sung by Rekha Bharadwaj.
Later, much later, the girl is tortured to painful death by a sadistic butcher,
gleefully played by Chandan Roy Sanyal.
In one of the most innovative editing techniques applied to a Hindi cinema
(editors Aarif Sheikh and Unni Krishnan can take a bow), we see the scarred
prostitute's torture and death through Arjun Rampal eyes as though he were there
when it happened, when he was not.
And in the background a haunting Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy song "Alvida"
plays with assertive evocativeness, reminding us that the end of love is always
death.
The love story could have been the entire script of Advani's film. But
"D-Day" -- odd title since the antagonist is no more named Dawood --
has a lot more to say, and it says it with in a tone of unfussy enrapturing elan
that invites us into its midst without using gimmicky methods of enticement.
The screenplay by Advani, Ritesh Shah and Suresh Nair constructs a collage of
characters hell-bent on a collision course. Though rigorously researched, the
erudition sits easily, spontaneously and unobtrusively on Advani's narration.
The story of a bunch of RAW agents on a mission in Pakistan to nab "India's
Most Wanted" is told in a tone that favours a detached distance from the
proceedings while ensuring we see each character's life in prismatic close-ups.
Though a deeply patriotic film, "D-Day" indulges in no flag-waving.
The Indian flag makes one guest appearance, and that too at the end. God bless
Manoj Kumar.
Every character in "D-Day", even the dreaded caricatural Bhai (the don
named, ha ha, Goldman), is a prisoner of his own lost dreams and aspirations.
The RAW heroes are thrown in our face without elaborate preamble. The very
attractive Huma Qureshi as the RAW agent Zoya has her personal life in shambles.
But we never see her unhappy husband. We only hear him. And we're happy that he
speaks about their distressed relationship in the voice of the very talented Raj
Kumar Yadav.
Every character, visible or invisible, speaks to us in urgent desperate tones.
And within 20 minutes of the playing-time we're consumed by these doomed lives
that seem to have lived on the edge forever and have nowhere to go except the
abyss.
With astonishing impunity Advani sketches half-finished all his characters.
These are people whose dreams can never come true.
The film's deep affinity to the business of unfinished lives gives a cutting
edge to Advani's narration. As the plot progresses, the narration gets only more
and more involving and intriguing until from Karachi we reach breathlessly to
the Indian side of the Indo-Pak border where Rishi Kapoor gives a sneering
contemptuous speech on the Indian government's inability to control terrorists
and terrorism.
This is as good a place as any to say "D-Day" is crammed with
remarkable actors furnishing the anxious proceedings with a riveting life-force.
Rishi as the gangster is, of course, first-rate. When is he anything less? While
conveying the sinister slimy side of the gangster, Rishi also gives a comic
interpretation to the rotund goggled perpetrator of mayhem. Yup, this guy is
having himself a blast.
The other actors too are entirely in their element. Arjun and Shruti's tragic
love story is played by the actors in muted mellow muffled shades. Arjun seems
to become a more evolved actor with every role. As for Irrfan, his portrayal of
a man on a suicidal mission trying to hold on to the memory of his wife and son
is so vivid you can touch his anguish.
Newcomer Sriswara is extremely credible as Irrfan's wife, while Huma as the
third member of the RAW team is effortlessly appealing and effective.
Newcomer Akaash Dahiya as the fourth RAW team-member is so much on the edge, you
want to hold him back from toppling over.
The cinematography by Tushar Kanti Ray uses cluttered garish spaces to create a
sense of spiritual emptiness during times of tremendous stress and anxiety. This
is a film with world-class action scenes. But it is not an action film. It's a
film about love and loss. But it isn't a love story.
So what is it we are looking at here? Go find out for yourself. With this one
film, Advani joins the ranks of the most accomplished young filmmakers of Hindi
cinema and by far Karan Johar's Dharma Productions proudest product.
Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani was consoled by film fraternity members like Karan Johar and Abhishek Bachchan at his mother's funeral here on Sunday.Advani's mother Rekha died on Saturday.Read More
Bollywood is quite heady: Huma QureshiActress Huma Qureshi says Bollywood is "quite heady" and it is very difficult to brace up for the journey in the industry.Read More
9 years ago Wali Khan (Irrfan Khan) was sent into Karachi, Pakistan, by the Chief of R&AW Ashwini Rao (Nasser) to report the activities of the Most Wanted Man in India.
9 days ago Rudra Pratap Singh (Arjun Rampal) Indian Armed Forces, MARCOS unit, Zoya Rehman (Huma Qureshi) R&AW Explosives expert and Aslam (Akash Dhaiya) a petty thief from the streets of Mumbai, recruited by R&AW infiltrated Pakistan to join Wali Khan and carry out the mission to bring back The Most Wanted Man in India. The man who was going to break all ISI protocol and security and attend his own sons wedding. The man who could on that day be abducted and brought back to India to face justice.
1 day ago everything went according to plan until it all failed. The team sent in to bring The Most Wanted Man in India did the unthinkable – They carried out the most daring operation and almost got away with it. Almost because, something went horribly wrong.
Screening of Film D-Day Stills
Celebrity screening of film D-Day - stills