Movie Review: D-Day

Rating: 4/5 stars (Four Stars)

Star cast: Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Huma Qureshi, Shruti
Haasan

Director: Nikhil Advani

What's Good:

Without an ounce of jingoism, the film's plain, non-
judgmental storytelling with a thought
provoking narrative is ace. Rishi Kapoor
and Irrfan Khan put up a marvelous
show!

What's Bad:

The editing in the film's latter half could have been tauter.

Loo break: None at all.


Watch or Not?:

Nikhil Advani's D-Day traces a labyrinthine story of India's
unsung war heroes. With its chilling
action scenes and thrilling emotional
quotient, D-Day is perhaps one of recent
times' most rivetingly told stories. With
Bollywood celebrating Dawood Ibrahim mostly, here's a filmmaker who has
made a daunting movie which
effortlessly gives the character its correct
hue.


User Rating:

The nabbing operation of India's most
wanted man that is carried out by four
undercover agents, all of them come with
their own personal baggage! Nabi Ali
(Irrfan), stationed in Pakistan for years
has already set up for himself emotional attachments. Rudra Pratap
Singh (Arjun),
a former Armed Force' officer is exactly
the opposite and prefers being detached.
Zoya (Huma) dumps her familial
happiness and chooses her patriotism
over it. And Aslam, who serves as the spy in the Don's 'kafila' joins
hands in an
impossible mission. On the eve of of his
son's wedding, the mission that will
result in the downfall of this notorious
don is to be executed. How brilliantly the
climax is tied up with its shockers and teary jerks are what make D-Day so
unparalleled.


D Day Review: Script Analysis

The script of this gritty thriller is based
on the lines of Zero Dark Thirty, naturally
sketching it on an Indianized canvas; the
film is 2 hours plus of sheer edge-of-
your-seat thrill. For most part, the story
sticks to being purely artistic even as its revels in nail biting
action. Emotionally
wrenching and ripping, the story of D-Day
follows the lives of 4 war heroes who are
on a mission ala 'The Charge of The Light
Brigade'.

Advani absorbs us easily into his story as
he uses the tool of terrifying realism and
paints the terrifying picture of atrocities
that we have incurred in the name of
terrorism. To begin with, it is the
extraordinary script that entraps you in the nuances of its dramatic folds. An
undercover agent, who must give up the
warmth of his wife and the love of his
son, is caught in between his duty call
and his family! It is a tribute to the story
writers that the audiences don't find a single sag in the film's tapestry. The
film's climax is 15 minutes of spectacular
adrenaline rush as all the pieces of the
film finally blends into one. There are its
share of clichés in each character as you
almost know what they are like, but the wonderful choice of actors render to
their roles both beauty and believability.
The film exudes immense confidence in
its mannerism of telling the story that
makes its fabric so brilliantly
suspenseful.


D Day Review: Star Performances

This high octave action flick depends
heavily on the prowess of its actors to
valiantly carry forward the story and each
of the vital work of these actors turn out
to be nothing short of stellar.

Rishi Kapoor as Goldman, the man
fashioned on the iconic underworld
character Dawood Ibrahim arrives with
the enigma that his name is meant to
convey. Getting every note right, he gives
an impactful performance. The man is colossal in his notoriety!

Irrfan as Wali Khan is impeccably
wonderful both in his tender moments
and the high drama ones. How in a
matter of one simple film this man has in
his role such diverse hues is
unimaginable. The accomplished actor he is, his tendency of constantly
pushing the
envelope further is what makes each of
his work so distinct and yet doesn't blur
in terms of marvel. He makes Wali both
delicate and fiery with stunning ease.

Arjun Rampal has evolved for the better
as an actor. His infallible personality and
his portrayal that has hints of both
anguish and strength is what makes him
stand out despite the presence of more
powerful actors. He acted like a dream and that is commendable, to say the
least.

Huma Qureshi tackles her part with gusto
and as compared to her role in the recent
Ek Thi Daayan, she is light years ahead. A
female soldier whose sacrifices are way
beyond merely putting her life on stake,
Qureshi's strength is in her simplistic acting.

Sriswara as Irrfan's wife is an excellent
actress who known the right mode to
enliven her role. Her chemistry with
Irrfan is so adorable-ish, that your heart
goes out to her helplessness!

Shruti Haasan as an actress is obviously
great, but her character is quite
misplaced. Nevertheless she carries out
her role to perfection especially the
power with which she manages to choke
you up in the song 'Alvida'.


D Day Review: Direction, Music &
Technical Aspects

Nikhil Advani's tangible movie is
innovative in its vision and involving in its
demeanor. The direction is so deeply
fascinating, that one remains obviously
latched to the movie. He carefully
refrains from making any bit of it melodramatic which is perhaps the most
effective part of the movie. Perhaps the
only hiccup for me was the song 'Alvida'
which in my opinion attempted to
romanticize tragedy and pain very
wrongly. It's a quite a shock that this man went wrong enough to make squibs
like Chandni Chowk To China and Salaam-
E-Ishq.

Tom Struthers and John Street's (of
Inception and Dark Knight fame)
stunning stunts right from Hollywood
frames terrorizes with the right punch.

Tushar Ray's cinematography is picture
perfect as he gives the right amount of
anxiety to the story. The film's mayhem
doesn't get anarchic and furnishes itself
convincingly. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's
soundtrack croons with a haunting feel and syncs wonderfully in the
film's story.


D Day Review: The Last Word

Nikhil Advani's D-Day is by far one of the
India's most applausive high octave
action films, which has a charming
rendition in terms of an emotional plot.
Appealing performances and the
menacing story makes for decadent palette. I am going with a 4/5 for this
well textured, fabulous film that will
leave you speechless and overwhelmed
without becoming imposingly patriotic.