Movie Review - The Ghazi Attack by Suhel Johar

The Ghazi Attack, Does Not Live Up To The Expectations.

 

The Ghazi Attack is supposed to be inspired by true events from the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. One really wonders how much of the film is based on true or real life events and how much of the film is imaginary and inspired.

The film is based on the version of the Indian navy's attack on Pakistan's submarine Ghazi that sunk near Visakhapatnam. Following intelligence reports that Pakistan is planning to attack one of India's ports, an S-21 submarine is sent into the sea. Led by Capt Ranvijay Singh (Kay Kay Menon), officer Devaraj (Atul Kulkarni) and Lieutenant Arjun (Rana Daggubati), the submarine begins a classified search mission. The Pakistani submarine Ghazi comes close to East Coast of India to target INS Vikrant. How S-21 submarine attacks Ghazi and sinks it forms the rest of the story.

It was a classified mission that no one knew of. It is clearly a mystery regarding what actually caused the PNS Ghazi to actually sink. While Indian Navy has claimed to have destroyed PNS Ghazi, Pakistan Navy believes the PNS Ghazi exploded as it collided with its own landmines. Till date, the truth remains hidden.

Billed as India's first underwater, war-at-sea film, The Ghazi Attack is truly a new kind of movie since this genre of submarine war drama has never been tried at earlier in India. The mystery behind the sinking of Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi is decoded by director Sankalp in his own way. The film is part real; part fiction with some dose of farce in the form of Tapsee’s track is downright silly and does not serve any purpose. It seems Tapsee's character is introduced just to incorporate a mandatory female role in the all-male cast.

The film which begins with Amitabh Bachchan’s  narration explaining what made this Indian submarine team go into the sea. Then the drama focuses on clashes between Rana and Kay Kay Menon regarding the rules and strategies to attack Pakistan's submarine.

The first half of the movie is not that gripping and in fact gives you a mixed feelings but the second half is better and more watchable as the submarines of both Pakistan and India go head-to-head, firing torpedoes.

While Pakistan's submarine (leased from the US Navy) is equipped with best technology, India's submarine is at sinking stage. From that awful situation, how the brave Indian soldiers led by Rana bring down the Ghazi and emerge victorious forms the rest of the film.

Clearly, some amount of effort has gone into understanding the makings of a submarine, running of a ship, and even firing of torpedoes and laying of landmines at sea. The film doesn’t cut corners on underwater shots of ships damaged, leaking, hissing and sputtering as they turn leeward and starboard, even though the first shot of Singh and Arjun first heading out to sea is totally fake. All Naval officers are shown unshaven and unkempt which is just so wrong. There are stories within stories and we don't see many combat sequences or bombing episodes. Its plot however, is devoid of any mystery. And the climax, especially the scene of bringing down the Ghazi, is a bit tacky.

Simply put it is a film that is based on a script of convenience in which facts are done away with far too often. The Ghazi Attack does show us glimpses of a good war-at-sea film it could have been but it just does not live up to it.

While the visuals and special effects lack finesse, the film compensates for it with its interesting story. Despite the hitches, this underwater thriller is worth a watch. It leaves you in awe of the soldiers, who lay their lives for their country

Cinematographer Madhie has given his best. The feel of being inside the submarine has come due to his framing and lighting.  The production design and the production values are excellent. K's background score is effective. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is okay; the movie has just 2 hours 10 minutes of runtime without any songs. Debutant Sankalp Reddy credited with story, screenplay and direction shows promise. He sure know his craft but needs to hone up his skills as a writer. 

Performance wise, Rana Daggubati has put in a sincere effort. He does not make much of an impression in the beginning but comes into his own as the story progresses. Kay Kay Menon though loud at times manages to make his presence felt. Atul Kulkarni is decent. Satyadev is impressive. Tapsee is wasted and gets a role which should have been played by a junior artiste. Rahul Singh as Pakistan commander is good. Om Puri and Nasser appear in brief roles.

On the whole, The Ghazi Attack is a film that you won’t mind watching but if you miss watching it you don’t lose anything either.