Ghazi Review

Movie: Ghazi

Star Cast: Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Nassar,  Kay Kay Menon, Late Om Puri, Rahul Singh,

Kunal Kaushik, Satyadev Kancharana,  Priya darshini and others

Director: Sankalp Reddy
 Written by Gangaraju Gunnam (Telugu dialogues), Azad Alam (Hindi dialogues),
Screenplay by Sankalp Reddy, Gangaraju Gunnam, Niranjan Reddy
 Music director: K
Cinematographer: Madhi
Editor: A. Sreekar Prasad

Producers: Prasad V Potluri, Anvesh Reddy, Venkatramana Reddy, NM Pasha, Jagan Mohan Vancha
 Production companies: PVP cinemas, Matinee Entertainment
Distributed by Dharma Productions,AA Films
Release date: 17th February, 2017

Certificate: U

Runtime: 124 minutes(2 hours 4 minutes)

Watched at Sangeetha theater, Patanchervu

Behind the screens: 

Rana Daggupati, Tapsee, Kay Kay Menon starrer Ghazi directed by Sankalp Reddy generated tremendous interest ever since its launch. The film is based on mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. India’s first ever under water war film is slated for grand release on Feb 17th. Megastar Chiranjeevi garu lent his voice for the Telugu version of the film. Let us see what impact it made on audiences.

Story:

During 1971, Pakistan tries crushing the rebellion in east Pakistan. Unable to bear the torture many people try to come into India as refugees. Pakistan accuses India of supporting the rebellion and decides to attack India through water. It sends PNS Ghazi, its most powerful ship headed by Captain Razaq,towards India with the intention to target INS Vikrant stationed at Visakhapatnam.

Indian Navy headed by Admiral (Om Puri) and senior officer (Nassar) sends submarine S21 to closely monitor the situation. S21 is captained by Captain Ranvijay Singh (Kay Kay Menon) who is known for his aggressive ways and has Devraj(Atul Kulkarni) as Executive Officer who supports him to the core. Indian Navy in order to avoid first attack by its forces deputes Lt.Commander Arjun Varma (Rana Daggubati) along with Cap Ranvijay Singh for the Operation code named Operation Sea Side. What happens next should be enjoyed on silver screen.

Performances:

Rana Daggupati slipped into the role effortlessly. His screen presence made good impact. He should be complimented for taking the initiative to turn the short film into a feature film.He showed good emotions and expressions in right places. His dialogue delivery is good.  Rana daggupati, after playing second fiddle to Kay Kay Menon in the first half, he plays the lead in the second half. Kay Kay Menon steals the show with his powerful performance and he is calm  in most of the scenes but aggressive intent surprises with his expressions. Atul Kulkarni supported both of them as EO. 

Late Om Puri got good screen presence at the start. Tapsee didn't get much scope to perform as Bangladesh refugee Ananya. Chiranjeevi’s voice over added new dimension to the film. Others  gave support to the lead cast perfectly.

Analysis:

Debutant director Sankalp Reddy came with a story inspired by the mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi off the coast of Visakhapatnam in 1971 and about S21 of INS Rajput whose team along with executive naval officer remained underwater for 18 days. He made this film with lot of passion and this is seen in every scene and every frame. He attracted with his story, screenplay and direction. Right from the start till the finish he kept viewers glued to the screen. Story progress at quick pace with good twists. He showed the conflict between two senior officers in S21 and also how they unite to fight the enemy. He also showed the war games played by captains of both submarines. He highlighted the emotions and expressions of all those involved in the operations in a perfect manner. Those who bend this movie deserve all the accolades for coming with such inspiring film.

Technical Values:

K’s background score created terrific impact on the film and It elevated the film to another level. There are no songs in the film. Madhie had tough time to work for this type of movies but his cinematography is beautiful. He captured the undersea environment in great manner. All the scenes are well shot and gave new experience. Except for few drags, Sreekar Prasad's editing is top notch.

Art direction is amazing and submarine set is too good. Custumes by Ashwanth Byri reflects 1970's wartime. Dubbing for some actors are not good and their lip sync could have been better. Dialogues are good in parts and made powerful impact. VFX work is outstanding. Production values PVP cinemas and Matinee Entertainment are grand.

Thumbs Up: 
- Crisp Story
- BGM
- Submarine Set
- Few Terrific scenes in preclimax

Thumbs Down:
- Few drags

Final Verdict:
Ghazi movie is an inspiring submarine war based film which having story inspired by the mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi off the coast of Visakhapatnam in 1971.
First half ends with good interval bang. Second half action intensifies with Pakistan launching frontal attack. Pre-climax war episode is interesting.

 Film makes Tollywood proud and inspire others to come with more such films. I strongly recommend you to watch this movie as we get this type of movies rarely in Tollywood.

Review By Manikick
Rating: 3.25/5