Flawless ride with a few flaws
Story:
Zooni Haksar (Yami), a Kashmiri intelligence officer, gets accountable for not following the orders of higher officials while capturing and killing militant commander Burhan Wani. Having been transferred to Delhi years ago, Zooni is now brought back to Kashmir by senior bureaucrat Rajeshwari (Priya Mani), who is leading the Indian government’s efforts to abolish Article 370 in the Valley. The rest of the film revolves around how Zooni defies the militants’ attempts to disrupt their plan, and Rajeshwari finds legal loopholes to continue with the abrogation.
Performances:
Yami Gautam, and Priyamani were excellent with their performances and carried the entire film on their shoulders. Kiran Karmakar, and Arun Govil were perfect while Vaibhav Tatwawadi, Raj Zutshi, Divya Seth, Skand Sanjeev Thakur and others were alright.
Analysis:
The film, set between 2015 and 2019, is divided into six chapters, and aims to tell the heart-rending story of how politicians and bureaucrats have repeatedly betrayed Kashmir. The narrative shows how Radicalization has been allowed and youth are brainwashed into becoming stone pelters. The first half is a tad too slow, and the proceedings look a bit confusing, but the second half portrays perfectly the emotions and thrills very well.
Positives:
It is commendable that the makers did not engage in the obvious tactic of bashing Pakistan or Muslims, which has been common in recent films. Moreover, there are no cliche dialogues or explicit Desh Bhakti songs to demonstrate patriotism. Producer Aditya Dhar has successfully managed the high production value of the film, much like in ‘Uri’ (2019). The struggles that government did go through during their mission of getting the Article 370 abolition bill passed were intriguingly shown along with the captivating action sequences.
Negatives:
The first half of the film takes much time to settle, and it mixes many incidents which adds to the confusion. Also, there are some scenes which are very conveniently told to suit the film’s narrative. The political situation in Kashmir and the portrayal of a few politicians at the place appear as setbacks to the film.
Last line: Article 370 is a near perfect political drama
