Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, ‘Khufiya’ is based on the book ‘Nowhere To Escape'(2012) written by former RAW official Amar Bhushan. The story is about Krishna Mehra- a RAW officer who goes after Ravi Mohan- a suspect within the agency.
Director: Vishal Bharadwaj
Cast: Tabu, Ali Fazal, Wamiqa Gabbi, Ashish Vidyarthi, Azmeri Haq Badhon, Atul Kulkarni
Streaming on: Netflix
Duraion: 2 Hours 37 Minutes
Story: The movie opens in 2004- when an agent is killed in Bangladesh. The main story of ‘Khufiya’ revolves around a RAW(Research & Analysis Wing) officer – Krishna Mehra a.k.a. KM (played by Tabu). RAW suspects Ravi Mohan(played by Ali Fazal) is selling Indian defense secrets to the Americans. KM is on a mission to track down the mole in the agency. However, this “traitor”- Ravi also has a patriotic complex. Following the murder in Dhaka in 2004, the agency keeps an eye on the mole’s family as well. What happens after this- does the mole get caught? – to know this, you have to watch the movie.
Watch the trailer of 'Khufiya':
Pros: The performance of Tabu as Krishna a.k.a. KM, is absolutely wonderful. She fits very well in her role. Ali Fazal plays the role of Ravi- the mole. Apparently, he is a family man with suspicious activities. Ali Fazal is good in his character. But, Wamiqa Gabbi as Charu- Ravi’s wife, is excellent. There is a scene where a song by Rahul Dev Burman is being played on the radio, and she pauses for a second and switches it off – it’s very impactful. Her character in this movie makes us root for this lady. Atul Kulkarni also has a dignified cameo.
Cons: The story has been presented wisely, but the fact is there is nothing surprising in it. In a few scenes, one might feel like watching a drama instead of an espionage thriller. The dialogues are not so catchy. The background music could have been better.
Apart from that, the duration of the movie ‘Khufiya’ is quite long (157 minutes)- which should have been trimmed.
Conclusion: Overall, ‘Khufiya’ is a regular spy movie. It has many flavours that add to the overall watching experience. This movie is very engaging, however, it cannot match the magic of previous movies(‘Maachis’, ‘Maqbool’, ‘Omkara’, ‘Haider’, etc) of Bharadwaj. Overall, ‘Khufiya’ is definely watchable, if you like the espionage genre.
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