Nikhil Advani, the ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ director and former Karan Johar protégé, is back with his sixth venture titled ‘D Day’. The movie stars Arjun Rampal, Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Huma Qureshi and Shruti Haasan and is all set to hit the screens tomorrow. Bollywood3 has attended a special screening to bring you a comprehensive review well in advance. Let’s see how the film is.
Story :
In a nutshell, ‘D Day’ is based on the lives of four RAW agents who are Rudra Pratap Singh (Arjun Rampal), Wali Khan (Irrfan), Zoya Rehman (Huma Qureshi) and Aslam (Aakash Dahiya) who go across to Pakistan on a mission to bring back Goldman (Rishi Kapoor) who is one of India’s most dreaded terrorist.
Each of the four RAW agents meticulously plans to execute their mission during the marriage of the don’s son that is to happen in Karachi. Do the officers manage to bring back the dreaded don back to India or end up losing their lives in this mission is what the rest of the film is all about.
Plus Points :
Nikhil Advani who is generally associated with emotional films like Kal Ho Na Ho and Salaam-e-Ishq breaks away from his comfort zone and tries his hand in the action genre. He manages to do a decent job and makes D Day quite different from the other films based on Dawood Ibrahim. Where Nikhil scores is around the point that D Day’s setup is very natural and for the first time in Bollywood, a filmmaker actually gets around to showing the lifestyle of the most wanted man instead of just dealing with his shadowy profiles like other films based on Dawood.
Coming to performances, no one could have imagined that the evergreen lover boy Rishi Kapoor could have carried off the character of a dreaded gangster so convincingly. Rishi is tremendous in his role and brings a lot of depth in his character and convinces you about his vision.
As usual, Irrfan brings a whole lot of weight to the film with his impactful performance. Arjun Rampal proves his worth once again and is suited for this role. Nasser as the RAW chief is extremely expressive while the female leads Shruthi Haasan and Huma Qureshi support the film well in their roles.
Minus Points :
Nikhil Advani as expected adds some emotional touch to D Day which was not required in a thriller like this one. The emotional scenes between Shruthi Haasan and Arjun Rampal could have been totally avoided and also there are a few sequences that are unexplained.
In the second half, a few sequences where Irrfan looses interest in the mission and howls for his family is a big bore. The first half and second half lack a strong common thread and feel like two different films. Overall, the length of the film could have been a little shorter.
Technical Aspects :
No doubt about the fact that D Day is a brilliant film technically. Be it the authentic locations of Karachi or the interior parts of Pakistan, the locations look stunning. All thanks to the excellent cinematography by Tushar Kanti Ray who gives us a authentic feeling of the country and its culture. The editing is top notch while the music is situational and creates an impact.
The best part about the film is that despite being an action thriller, D Day does not have any unwanted action sequences. Nikhil Advani’s screenplay could have been a lot better as many scenes are inappropriate and lack justification. While the first half goes on smoothly, there are a few scenes in the second half that make you want to fast forward them.
Verdict :
Overall, D Day is an amalgamation of some amazing performances and superlative technical aspects. If you can sit through some boring and unwanted emotional scenes, D Day will be a racy action packed thriller. Go for it!
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