IB 71 might remind you of the 2012 film Argo but don't think it's copied from there as this one is a real life story . With war looming on the east front of India, The mission is to prevent enemy jets to reach from west Pakistan to East pakistan by trying to block Indian airspace . How they manage to accomplish this is the main story .
Sankalp Reddy had impressed me with his previous film Ghazi Attack solely because it was soaked with tension and thrills , no matter how unrealistic it may look . IB 71 also is pretty similar.
The plot is riveting . The 1st half is a bit slow but this is the part where the plot building takes place and I really liked the fact the film does not hurry into getting into the main mission straightaway . The 2nd half is where the mission begins and this is where you get the smell of Argo .
The screenplay is fast and gripping . It never lets you get bored one moment especially in the 2nd half. No unnecessary songs , no romantic angles, it's pure plot execution.
However, the characters in this film are very poorly written . Vishal Jethwa has probably the worst and unintentionally funny character which literally made half the theatre audience laugh especially in the 2nd half where he starts behaving like a Baman from Dhamaal . Mind you, he is a negative character but is so poorly written that you barely get scared by his wide eyed angry face . Instead his dialogues in the aircraft are hilarious to hear which is not good . The Pakistani general and president are presented like fools just like any other Bollywood presentation of Pakistani army men. Their accent too is the typical one that Bollywood has given them over the years.
Vidyut does a good job without much action (there are a few action sequences but none where Vidyut showcases his MMA skills). Anupam kher has a limited role just to stand or sit and talk nothing else .
Overall, a good one time watch . It needed good characters to become terrific but it sadly missed this mark .
Sankalp Reddy had impressed me with his previous film Ghazi Attack solely because it was soaked with tension and thrills , no matter how unrealistic it may look . IB 71 also is pretty similar.
The plot is riveting . The 1st half is a bit slow but this is the part where the plot building takes place and I really liked the fact the film does not hurry into getting into the main mission straightaway . The 2nd half is where the mission begins and this is where you get the smell of Argo .
The screenplay is fast and gripping . It never lets you get bored one moment especially in the 2nd half. No unnecessary songs , no romantic angles, it's pure plot execution.
However, the characters in this film are very poorly written . Vishal Jethwa has probably the worst and unintentionally funny character which literally made half the theatre audience laugh especially in the 2nd half where he starts behaving like a Baman from Dhamaal . Mind you, he is a negative character but is so poorly written that you barely get scared by his wide eyed angry face . Instead his dialogues in the aircraft are hilarious to hear which is not good . The Pakistani general and president are presented like fools just like any other Bollywood presentation of Pakistani army men. Their accent too is the typical one that Bollywood has given them over the years.
Vidyut does a good job without much action (there are a few action sequences but none where Vidyut showcases his MMA skills). Anupam kher has a limited role just to stand or sit and talk nothing else .
Overall, a good one time watch . It needed good characters to become terrific but it sadly missed this mark .