The Ghazi Attack Movie Review: Bollywood's 'Crimson Tide'

Way back in 1995, Hollywood stalwarts Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman had teamed up for Crimson Tide, a movie about the clash of wills between an impulsive submarine captain and his level-headed subordinate during a tense mission.

Cut to 2017- Rana Daggubati and Kay Kay Menon come together for a similar film set against the backdrop of the 1971 Indo-Pak clash. When the Indian Navy receives reports that PNS Ghazi, a top Pakistani submarine has been deployed to destroy Indian Navy's pride INS Vikrant, submarine S-21 is launched under the command of war-hungry Captain Ranvijay Singh (Menon) for a reconnaissance mission.

Wary of Singh's enthusiasm for conflict, the Navy also dispatches level-headed Lieutenant Commander Arjun Verma (Rana) to keep an eye on Singh and what follows is a locking of horns when Singh advocates a 'shoot first, ask later' policy and Verma opposes it to the point of mutiny. If this clash was not enough to complicate the situation, there is also a Pakistani submarine hell-bent on sinking them to deal with. How the crew manages to deal with these two situations, forms the rest of the plot.

Menon, who is usually an awesome actor, gives in to the temptation of overdoing in a few scenes and his jaw-quivering intensity comes across as too contrived in certain places. However, one cannot ignore Menon when he is forging ahead on full steam and his powerful screen presence adds a certain gravitas to the character. Rana is at his restrained best, which proves to be an admirable foil to Menon's occasional histrionics while Atul Kulkarni provides able support as Executive Officer Devaraj, who is loyal to Singh even when he thinks his mentor is erring. Taapsee Pannu, who plays a Bangladeshi refugee, has no role as such and it's a pity to see the talented actress getting wasted in his film.

As for the film itself, like mentioned earlier, it will remind you of Crimson Tide, but having said that, the makers do deserve a pat on their backs for maintaining nail-biting tension throughout the film, especially in the second half during the cat and mouse game between the two warring submarines. The first half of the film is solely dedicated to the clash between Singh and Verma, but that too is entertaining as you wait to see who will prevail.

The underwater scenes with the submarines have been executed really well and the scenes within the submarine have been shot effectively enough to make you feel claustrophobic. It is quite evident that a lot of research has gone into the workings of a submarine and Navy protocols, which is quite admirable. As far as war films go, Bollywood has never seen an underwater film before and it sure is a treat to watch it on the big screen.

On the flip side, the film gets somewhat predictable at certain points- like when the Indian sailors start singing the National Anthem during a moment of crisis and you know what is going to follow next. Also, the antagonist Commander Razak Khan (Rahul Singh) of the PNS Ghazi is trying so hard to play the baddie that his snarl and glower comes across as unintentionally funny in places.

Sankalp Reddy's The Ghazi Attack may have its flaws, but having said that, the film is definitely worth a watch...