Starring: Irrfan, Rishi Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Huma Qureshi, Shruti Hassan, Aakash Dahiya, Shriswara
Directed by Nikhil Advani
Rating:
For most of its duration, D Day is a fairly smart and entertaining thriller that moves swiftly enough for us to not pause and question its flights of fantasy, assumed loopholes and confusing twists and turns. It springs from the real and goes into an imagined, fictitious zone. The focus is on RAW’s stealthy Operation Goldman, set in motion to nab the dreaded D company don, aka Dawood, in Karachi. The secret agents, their alternate realities that take them away from their real lives, the cat and mouse chases, the near misses and big blunders—all keep you at the edge of the seat. Irrfan is in cracking form as Wali Khan, one of the Indian moles; Arjun Rampal and Shruti Haasan are used skilfully by the director. In fact, an entire narrative song sequence, Alvida, achingly shot and choreographed, had one rooting for their love. A love that just happened, like a mistake, quite unknowingly. What works are these emotional undercurrents in each of the stories and it’s the simplistic finale and the jingoism that detract from the film. The talk of new India and its confrontational attitude might grate cinematically, but, perhaps, that’s what pulls the crowds in. D Day breaks no new ground, but makes for gripping pulp.