Covert Affairs:
Several recent web shows have delved into the shadowy world of espionage, with India’s intelligence agency, Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) stepping into the spotlight.
When it is trendy to highlight tales of valour of Indian soldiers, and the unknown sacrifices of spies, hitherto secret files of successful Indian missions – almost always against Pakistan—are being dusted off for screen plots. Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar is the latest in the list, that rightly glorifies the brave men (and women), who do dangerous undercover assignments in enemy territory, quite aware that if they are caught, there will be no rescue, or even acknowledgment of their work, until, years later, someone thinks of making a movie.
Real espionage is not glamorous or exciting—it is dull, risky, often thankless work, involving, as the spy handler in Dhurandhar says, “nazar aur sabar.” (attention and patience). Ajay Sanyal (R Madhavan), is a barely disguised Ajit Doval, who picks up a criminal from Punjab and sends him to infiltrate a gang in Karachi. India has suffered enough terrorist attacks orchestrated by Pakistan, and it’s about time, intelligence gathering was amped up, he insists.
The film then goes into great detail about the various gangs of Karachi, their regional affiliations and political power. The Pathans, for instance, and the Balochs have carved up criminal activity and opportunistic political leaders have to ally with one of the other to hold on to their voter base.
Under Operation Dhurandhar, with the cover story of a Baloch rebel, Hamza (Ranveer Singh), arrives in Lyari, a locality in Karachi, where an asset is already in place. The long term plan is to get into the gang of the Baloch gangster Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna), and after a staged attack on his family, Hamza is easily invited into the gang, and given a rundown on the illegal arms operations, so that the audience gets the information too.
The politician Jameel Yamali (Rakesh Bedi) has Rehman’s backing, but when the gangster expresses political aspirations of his own, Yamali resurrects the career of the diabolical cop Chaudhary Aslam (Sanjay Dutt), to clean up Lyari. There was actually an Operation Lyari in Karachi, and organized crime was targeted, but whether an Indian spy had anything to do with it, remains hazy.
As Rehman’s man, Hamza has to be as violent and cruel as the others, and even use his romance with Yamali’s daughter (Sara Arjun) to further his cause. ISI General Iqbal (Arjun Rampal), several corrupt arms dealers, currency counterfeiters and assorted thugs roam the landscape of Dhar’s film, all conspiring against India. In spite of sending advance warning, the 26/11 attack was carried out in Mumbai, and Hamza is incensed.
This time, it’s personal, as so many angry heroes have said in so many films, but Hamza’s response to 26/11 will have to wait for the next installment of Dhurandhar, since this one ends with a “to be continued” after a 3 hour 34 minute runtime. Most of this is taken up by extravagant action set pieces with retro music in the background.
Years ago, Govind Nihalani had made a film Drohkaal (1994), in which a cop went so deep undercover that he was forced over to the other side. The 2022 web series Mukhbir delved into the regular risks a spy takes, and the tragedy of a man who loses his own identity, and lives in fear of one day inadvertently answering to his real name.
Ranveer Singh with his chiselled physique and long shampoo-ad hair still manages to own the screen, while the men in power like Rehman, Aslam (Dutt is given a special entry in which cheerfully dismembers three men!) and Iqbal (who wants to destroy India with a thousand cuts) are running the show.
Dhurandhar, made for the mainstream, may not have the dark realism of a spy story which a web show can manage; but it does not have the flamboyance either, that has come to be associated with espionage movies. What it does have is excessive violence and a bunch of characters one can neither like nor hate. Through a large part of the film, Hamza stands around Rehman like his other minion and jumps to do his bidding. By the time he schemes and plots to come into his own, the film has run its course, plus some, and has more killings to go in the next film. In the meantime, script writers and directors feeling the nationalistic vibe, can look into other RAW files! We need a government that allows us to act, says Sanyal/Doval. The signal flare has been fired.
(This piece appeared first in rediff.com)
