D DAY ("INDIAN ZERO DARK THIRTY")

July 19, 2013.

Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Irfan Khan, Shruti Hassan, Huma Qureshi.

Director: Nikhil Advani.

D Day is a surprise package coming from Nikhil Advani both content wise as well as execution wise.

After a few moments showing the 1993 Bombay blasts the film comes to the present, where, during the discussion between a top police official and the Chairman of R&AW, the possibility of an operation to hunt down India’s most wanted criminal ‘Goldman” (Dawood Ibrahim) in the lines of Operation Geronimo is discussed.

The fiction that follows talks about the possible route that the Indian Government could take in bringing down Dawood through a covert operation using four Indian operatives.

A few minutes into the film “Operation Goldman” takes place and from there on the brilliantly crafted screenplay cuts across to 40 days prior to the operation, gradually coming back to the operation by the middle of the film and then moving onto the current day events. With a lot of realism in the way the film pans out you are in for a gripping piece of art.

No praise is enough for the amazing screenplay that links so many events in the most perfect way possible. The set pieces showing the nabbing of Goldman first in the initial scenes and next that comes later on are so beautifully written and executed. Add to that the wonderfully choreographed fight sequences coupled with top class editing and the Zero Dark thirty kind of camera, and you have a film that is really appealing. The music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is much better compared to their last outing Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

Coming to the performances it is Rishi Kapoor and Arjun Rampal who steal the limelight followed by Irfan Khan to a large extent. This is definitely one of the best roles of Arjun Rampal till date. Rishi Kapoor seems to have really enjoyed playing Dawood considering the end product on screen; apart from some of the best dialogues in the film going to him the lengthy dialogues in the climax are surely gonna be a showstealer!! The rest of the cast also comes out with equally good performances, thanks to the able direction and screenplay.

The romantic angle involving Arjun and Shruti, though well shot, could have been avoided as it does not help the film’s cause in any manner whatsoever. Advani makes sure not to add masala at all in any of the scenes, however, showing how serious he wants this film to be, which works almost all the time.

The film made on a documentary style to a large extent is a cut above the usual bollywood films.

I am giving a 3.75/5 for D Day. Thumbs up to the effort from Advani.

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.