Brief Synopsis:
Set in the backdrop of the 1971 Bangladesh war, RAW tells the story of Romeo (John Abraham), a bank cashier who is hired by RAW to infiltrate into Pakistan and pass on covert information to them. What happens when the cover of the blue eyed boy of RAW is blown? Is he disowned by his own people? Is he just treated as a pawn in the bigger scheme of things? Does he become a liability to his own government, someone who is easily dispensable? This forms the rest of the plot.
Review: John Abraham as the master of disguise (Romeo, Akbar and Walter) gets into the character with ease, displaying various emotions like fear when he is first recruited by RAW; angst, when he is disowned by his own when his cover is blown & presence of mind when he is confronted with difficult situations while trying to spy on Paki officials with ease. Really the Ace in the pack of cards.
Sikandar Kher, as Col Khan from the ISI does a great job as a sadist who enjoys pulling out peoples nails as a part of the third degree torture while humming a sweet song. Jackie as the RAW chief Srikant Rai gives a restrained performance and is one of the strongest links which binds the film together.
Rest of the cast like Raghuvir Yadav, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Mouni Roy have also done a decent job with their small but well etched out characters.
Why is the film not as gripping as Raazi?
Though a decent one time watch & despite dwelling in the same genre as Raazi which was an awesome film to say the least, RAW falters a bit with its lack of past paced action owing to the slow narrative inspite of a stellar cast. This is unfortunately what brings the film down by a notch when compared to Raazi which had all of the above.
There is a twist in the tale at the climax but it is so far-fetched that probably even the popping out of Jim Carrey's eyes in the film MASK would seem normal to most.
But to cut the makers some slack, RAW has its moments, though not enough to keep the audiences glued to their seats (I was yawning a bit in the first half due to the slow narrative). The length of the film should have been reduced by 15-20 mins.
Verdict: A one time watch, not bad yet not too gripping for a film in this genre. I would ideally give it 6.5 stars out of 10 ......but am tempted to add half a star more for the effort put in by the makers. Watch it in the theatres without raising the bar too high and you won't be disappointed.
Review: John Abraham as the master of disguise (Romeo, Akbar and Walter) gets into the character with ease, displaying various emotions like fear when he is first recruited by RAW; angst, when he is disowned by his own when his cover is blown & presence of mind when he is confronted with difficult situations while trying to spy on Paki officials with ease. Really the Ace in the pack of cards.
Sikandar Kher, as Col Khan from the ISI does a great job as a sadist who enjoys pulling out peoples nails as a part of the third degree torture while humming a sweet song. Jackie as the RAW chief Srikant Rai gives a restrained performance and is one of the strongest links which binds the film together.
Rest of the cast like Raghuvir Yadav, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Mouni Roy have also done a decent job with their small but well etched out characters.
Why is the film not as gripping as Raazi?
Though a decent one time watch & despite dwelling in the same genre as Raazi which was an awesome film to say the least, RAW falters a bit with its lack of past paced action owing to the slow narrative inspite of a stellar cast. This is unfortunately what brings the film down by a notch when compared to Raazi which had all of the above.
There is a twist in the tale at the climax but it is so far-fetched that probably even the popping out of Jim Carrey's eyes in the film MASK would seem normal to most.
But to cut the makers some slack, RAW has its moments, though not enough to keep the audiences glued to their seats (I was yawning a bit in the first half due to the slow narrative). The length of the film should have been reduced by 15-20 mins.
Verdict: A one time watch, not bad yet not too gripping for a film in this genre. I would ideally give it 6.5 stars out of 10 ......but am tempted to add half a star more for the effort put in by the makers. Watch it in the theatres without raising the bar too high and you won't be disappointed.