A Supercop on the Hunt

You kill theirs, they kill yours. It’s how old enmities work and Delhi Police officer Rajeev Kumar (John Abraham) looks as if he is carrying the weight of the world’s wars on his impressive shoulders. A car bomb explodes in Delhi, the R&AW chief manipulates him into taking up the case which Kumar then insists on seeing through even as India abandons him, Iran wants to kill him, and Israel deserts him.

Shot with international actors speaking in Farsi, there is a certain grittiness in the film that sets it apart from made-for-box office spy franchises. There is also an elegiac air about the film which grasps the nature of a spy’s life, with some action to justify Abraham’s casting. There is a gas deal about to be signed between Iran and India, and India’s continuing reliance on Israel for tech, which a face-off between Iran and Israel threatens to undo. Nobody wants someone else’s war to be fought on their soil, least of all India. Based on the 2012 car bombing in Delhi, the film is a slow burn but worth the wait.

Alyy KhanArun GopalanJohn AbrahamNeeru BajwaTehran