Hot take: Raazi

'Raazi' (2018) is a taut, edge-of-the-seat spy drama about an Indian girl (a fantastic Alia Bhatt) sent undercover to Pakistan in the guise of a young bride to gather intelligence for her home nation. The daughter in law in a foreign home/spy parallel is nicely plumbed for its inherent tension in the service of the narrative, which is shorn of all excess, be it cinematic or otherwise. The film manages to be deeply patriotic while questioning what patriotism does to the lives of individuals and their personal relationships, equally on both sides of the border. A far cry from the chest-thumping jingoism Bollywood serves to us and powered by fine performances all round, this is one of those rare entertainers that compels you to question the idealism of its basic premise.

P.S. The pun in the title of the movie ("Raazi" means both "the one who keeps secrets" and "the one who consents") is a masterstroke.

Genre: Spy drama

Language: Hindi/Urdu

Runtime: 2h 18min

Year of release: 2018

Streaming platform: Netflix

Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.