Dhaval Roy of The Times of India gave 4 stars out of 5 and said "The fictional take on a novel said to be inspired by true events tells an engaging spy story.Read at source
Khufiya 2023
Synopsis
Khufiya
Khufiya (transl. Secret) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language spy thriller film written, produced, scored and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, based on Amar Bhushan's espionage novel Escape to Nowhere. The film stars Tabu, Ali Fazal, Wamiqa Gabbi and Azmeri Haque Badhon (in her Hindi film debut). The film revolves around a Research and Analysis Wing operative who is assigned to track down a mole, who is selling defense secrets, while also grappling with her dual identity as a spy and lover.
- Director
- Vishal Bharadwaj
- Release
- 5 Oct 2023
- Studio
- Netflix
- Run time
- 157 min
- Language
- Hindi
Reviews
10 Indian-media reviews, grouped by reception.
Critics' consensus
Mixed
Critics' aggregate for Khufiya is 62/100 from 6 scored critic/publication reviews including Rotten Tomatoes.
Synthesized by AI (gpt-5-codex-omdb-enricher) from 12 source-backed reviews — verify against the linked sources.Common praise
- performances
- direction
- writing
Watch points
- performances
Positive 9
Himesh Mankad of Pinkvilla wrote "Khufiya is a well-made espionage, which comes across as an interesting and entertaining film from Vishal Bhardwaj."Read at source
Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost wrote "Khufiya is an intense combination of suspense and complexity."Read at source
Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in praised Tabu's performance, stating "Even in the silliest of scenes, Tabu is always poised for something better."Read at source
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "Director Vishal Bhardwaj does not appear to be at full tilt in Khufiya.Read at source
Shreya Tinkhede of Times Now rated three out of five stars, saying "Khufiya is a sincere attempt by Vishal Bhardwaj to paint the dark and gruesome world of espionage with meticulous attention to detail."Read at source
Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com rated 3 stars out of 4 and wrote "Khufiya isn't a deconstruction of the spy thriller, but it does blatantly re-orient viewers to what's often missing or downplayed in stories about spies, many of whom are presented as solitary little wheels who work for big organizations that could stop needing them at a moment's notice Bhardwaj and his collaborators show respect for that guiding spirit of professionalism by only suggesting what various characters either aren't saying or aren't ready to admit to themselves."Read at source
Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com said "Khufiya has the length of a movie and satisfaction of long form.Read at source
Anuj Kumar wrote in The Hindu that "Powered by the poetic charm of his female leads, the writer-composer-director paints a haunting character study of three emotionally conflicted women caught in the crosshairs of espionage."Read at source
Critical 1
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated 2 out of 5 stars and summarized "Despite the top-notch acting talent headed by the peerless Tabu, and Bhardwaj’s manifest skill in creating atmosphere which includes lashes of unexpected humour, ‘Khufiya’ remains, at best, a mixed bag, more drab than fab."Read at source
Media & trailers
Verified video records attached to this title.
Details
Soundtrack
- Dil Dushman Arijit Singh
- Mat Aana Rekha Bhardwaj, Niladri Kumar
- Na Hosh Chale Arijit Singh
- Bujhee Bujhee Rahul Ram, Jyoti Nooran
- Tanhai Vishal Bhardwaj, Kiran + Nivi
- Mann Na Rangaave Rahul Ram
- Dil Dushman Sunidhi Chauhan
- Tanhai Sunidhi Chauhan
- Na Hosh Chale Vishal Bhardwaj
Technical specs
- Release date
- 5 Oct 2023
- Run time
- 157 min
- Language
- Hindi
- Country
- IN
- Director
- Vishal Bharadwaj
- Studio
- Netflix
- Distributor
- Netflix
- Certificate
- TV-MA
Trivia
- Vishal Bhardwaj bought the rights to the novel Escape to Nowhere in 2016 and originally wrote the script with Irrfan Khan in mind.
- Principal photography commenced in September 2021 and continued until April 2022, with filming taking place predominantly in Delhi and Canada.
- The film stars Azmeri Haque Badhon in her Hindi film debut alongside Tabu, Ali Fazal, and Wamiqa Gabbi.
- Khufiya was released on Netflix on 5 October 2023 and received positive reviews for its lead cast, screenplay, and direction.
- At the 2024 Filmfare OTT Awards, the film won Best Supporting Actress in a Web Original Film for Wamiqa Gabbi.
- The movie is based on Amar Bhushan's espionage novel Escape to Nowhere, which Bhardwaj adapted into a screenplay over nearly two years from 2016 to 2018.
Tags
Hindi Cinema2023Hindi FilmReleasedHindi