Espía a la caza

As mostly observed in Hindi films, somehow they just don't know how to direct the foreign cast, either look overcooked or way too shabby. I'll give it to Khufiya, have managed that aspect pretty well. But that's just about it. It's a pale shadow of a Bharadwaj movie clan, so much so, that even Tabu looks slightly disinterested at times, which is the rarest of rare sights. Such a potent cast, and yet apart from Gabbi, nobody looked remotely scraped in their acting prowess. Gabbi, great in most parts, has surely provided a wider array of emotions, which, understandably looked a tad overwhelming in the second half. Assuming that your attention is still gripped till the interval, it shall be severely tested by the triviality and immaturity of the plot in the latter half. The best scene though belongs to Gabbi and her short dance sequence.

Anwar Says: Vishal Bhardwaj always takes up something new and normally delivers, this time it's an espionage drama. The movie started so well and intriguing but didn't require story of Tabu's personal life at length,particularly the lesbian angle. After one hour, it has become haywire in parts. You would like the loose ends to join but it would again split.

I would consider it as a movie of new darling of OTT Wamiqa Gabbi rather of Tabbu. She has been given ample scope to shine, whether to dance on numbers of 70's or to show his pain and anguish. Ali Faizal's character is totally confused and he looked confused. In a comparatively shorter role, Azmeri Haque Badhon as ISI associate impress.

Climax is hushed up and could have been better. Vishal Saheb had the scope to present a beauty but he missed the bus. Inclusion of Rahul Ram ( Indian Ocean fame) is a good experiment and it worked. 6 out of 10 from me.

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The movie got released today. Because of Badhon, I was waiting for it be released and finished seeing it just now.

General review: very poor storytelling. No proper introduction of why people are doing what they are doing. We don't know why Ravi is betraying his own country. There was a one liner explanation which definitely isn't enough to describe his motives. Don't know why his mother is helping him. Don't know why Badhon came to Tabu for help or even why she later joined another organization. There were a one liner explanation for some of those and those doesn't help much to understand the reasoning. And the ending climax can't be any poorer.

Overall, expected much from a director like Vishal Bhardwaj, both from storytelling and directional point of view.

Disappointed.

One of the best part is Wamiqa Gabbi's dance n her sex scene. What an amazing body n moves she has.

Fans of Richard Gere's The Double, Gary Oldman's Tinker Tailer.... & Hank's Bridge of Spies will enjoy this spy drama.

Ali Fazal gave a restrained but solid performance.

Tabu was jus added to make it look like female empowerment stuff. They shud have settled for an old actor whose character is retired n has much more experience than Tabu's character.

The only annoying thing is the lack of tension during the dinner scene with the mutton dish.

They cud have easily added some violence n disturbing effect.

Whenever confronted with the term 'espionage thriller', we automatically assume that the narrative will be laden with action and explosions; we seldom anticipate a slow-burn drama that may take its time and proceed with caution.

Therefore, projects like "Khufiya" would always face severe criticism because of how they approach this genre, which is very atypical of the standards set by decades of arbitrary rituals!

That said, my disappointment doesn't correlate with its moderately alien tonality; on the contrary, I liked how different it came across from all other spy movies.

Most of my qualms are regarding the screenplay's insipid and lethargic nature. The first half is fine, but the second half struggles hard to maintain the sense of engagement. The writing took too much time to get to the definitive juncture, but even then, the payoff was mild compared to what I wanted.

The performances are commendable, though, with Tabu shining in her role again. But it's Wamiqa Gabbi who made the greater impression, especially in the latter half of the tale.