THE GHAZI ATTACK

THE GHAZI ATTACK: is a 2017 Indian Telugu & Hindi bilingual war film directed by debutant Sankalp Reddy.The film is based on mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.The film stars Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni,Taapsee Pannu, Om Puri, Rahul Singh.It is India's first underwater/war-at-sea film

PLOT: After the Indian Navy decodes a cryptic message by the Pakistan Navy about a surprise attack on India, the Indian Navy officers become extremely alert about the situation. In order to combat the attack, they recruit a team of three officers to lead India’s submarine S21. The trio, then go on a classified mission to do a detailed underwater recce of the situation. The three principal officers chosen for the mission include Lt.Commander Arjun Varma (Rana Daggubati), Captain Ranvijay Singh (Kay Kay Menon) and Executive Officer Devraj (Atul Kulkarni).What follows after that, are a series attacks and war games between both the submarines under the ocean. Do the Indian officers aboard ‘S21’ manage to survive the Ghazi attack and defeat the Pakistan submarine or do they succumb before the enemies, is what forms the rest of the film.

PERFORMANCES: Rana Daggubati was the star in this film but Kay Kay Menon was the hero. His performance as the stern Commander was so convincing that you would instantly hate his arrogance and yet love his dexterity. His cold commanding stare could penetrate the screen and send a chill down your spine. Rana’s skill however, shines through in the second half in what was possibly his best performance yet. Atul Kulkarni too as usual brought the character to life. Rahul Singh, who plays Commander Razzaq (and the neutral evil) of Pakistan also did a commendable job, particularly against actors of that calibre.

MUSIC: While the film has absolutely no scope for music (Krishna Kumar aka K), it’s the film’s background music, which is outstanding and helps the narrative in a big way.

The film’s cinematography is well-researched script is extremely engaging and keeps the viewer hooked to the seats till the end of the film. Given the fact that the film’s premise was set majorly inside a submarine, one has to applaud the film’s writing and execution, which undoubtedly comes across as one of the toughest aspects of the film. Also, the kind of homework done in order to unearth the story is extremely commendable and remarkable.The VFX used in the film though could have been better.

Overall,The Ghazi Attack is a must watch film.