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Movie Review by Rishi Kapoor

The movie is inspired by the Controversial encounter of Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists which took place in Jamia Nagar Delhi in 2008, that raised questions across India.

Was it a cover-up or a real victory for the Delhi police? The movie tries to answer the question. The movie ran into a spot of pre-release controversy because the Batla House case where a sessions court pronounced a verdict in 2013, is still under appeal.

The film begins with a lengthy disclaimer and incorporates some court-directed modifications. It is unclear how they altered the narrative, but they couldn’t have been substantial. The film grabs you by the grim reality of communal disharmony and the riots it births. With gripping action sequences and fight-offs, John’s muscle power speaks its own language.

Director Nikkhil Advani’s return to the gangster-terrorist thriller genre after his 2013 D-Day, starts on a promising note, but then tires itself out by meandering across the countryside. The problem with the movie is it’s mediocre support cast who are amateurishly theatrical in both their fear and their laughter.

Abraham is steely, but a stronger performer could have given this demanding role some shades of grey. Here, when handing over a dismantled gun to his wife to hide because he doesn’t trust himself with a firearm, he appears merely blank. Mrunal Thakur, playing his wife, gets an interesting character, a television anchor fed up of her husband’s negligence toward her — and thus of the police itself. Thakur, however, delivers dialogue all too flatly.

Director Nikkhil Advani tries to keep the pace but the storytelling consumes a lot of time on the peripheral red-tapism rather than getting to the point.

This movie is a good one time watch given the fact the subject is based on true events.