19 July,2013 04:59 PM IST | | Shubha Shetty-Saha
From the first scene, 'D-Day' takes you firmly into its grip and holds you tight.
An interesting story of a dreaded terrorist (Iqbal Seth) who's safely ensconced in Karachi, Pakistan, is desperately wanted by India. The RAW chief, Ashwani Rao (Nassar) plots a kidnap plan with the help of Wali Khan (Irrfan), a RAW agent based in Pakistan, Rudra Pratap Singh (Arjun Rampal), an army man-turned-agent, and two other agents, Zoya Rehman (Huma Qureshi), whose marriage is crumbling because of her dedication towards her duty and Aslam (Aakash Dahliya) a small-time crook manipulated into this duty.
Huma Qureshi, Irrfan and Arjun Rampal in a still from 'D-Day'
The foursome is out to execute this daring but what seems like an impossible task with passion and dedication. Their perfect opportunity comes when Iqbal insists on attending his son's wedding much to the chagrin of the ISI. However, the real story begins when their otherwise foolproof plan fails and now they are on their own in Pakistan, frightened out of their wits but still determined to carry on their task.
Nikhil Advani's taut direction of this film, keeps you hooked throughout, just once in a while letting you off the hook to gasp and breathe. The story moves to and fro in the pace of a hurried man with a mission and for not a moment lets your attention waver from the story or the characters of the film. While the fast paced action keeps you on the edge, what comes as a relief is that even the romantic portions between Rudra Pratap Singh and a sex worker (Shruti Hassan), who he's cooped with to hide his identity, are tender, sensititve and original. In fact, one scene involving the two of them (describing the scene would be revealing too much) can easily be called one of the finest emotional scenes.
A mention has to be made of the convincing performance of actress Shreeswara who plays Wali Khan's innocent wife.
Most part of the film is shot in locations turned to look like Karachi, and they actually do. Or at least fits into our perception of Pakistan.u00a0
Irrfan is brilliant as he veers with ease from being a determined agent to a helplessly desperate father and husband. Huma Qureshi and Aakash Dahliya play their part to perfection, but it is Arjun Rampal as Rudra who amazes with a performance that is undoubtedly his best till date. Rampal, apart from looking as gorgeous as he does, comfortably displays a range of emotions with surprising deft.
Rishi Kapoor as the Goldman aka Iqbal Seth, the dreaded terrorist, is great to begin with but a little later starts disappointing a wee bit, as his character and the portrayal seem one-dimensional. And also what seems like a seamless, gripping drama in the first half, starts faltering a bit and almost stumbles in the end when the Goldman is allowed to give a long bhashan.
However, 'D-Day' with an innovative story idea, adept editing, fantastic execution and good performances is immensely watchable, at least once.u00a0
