Khufiya

While the early portions of Khufiya are gripping and move at a fast pace, the proceedings slow down during the US portions in the second half, which could have been taken care of on the edit table. There are some logical loopholes taking the characters, that might irk a section of Vishal Bhardwaj's audience, but the filmmaker has certainly taken the route of suspension of disbelief in the scenario. While the background score is solid, the music is underwhelming. There is a track involving a religious guru, which though well integrated in the plot, is not clearly defined. The story leaves you with some questions about taking the convenient path in the screenplay.

Despite already having given so much away early on, the 157-minute Khufiya continues to nurture lofty ambitions. Bhardwaj wants to deliver a character study alongside a smoke-out-the-spook thriller. Yet, despite solid craft, meaty individual scenes and a few sharp performances, the film converts a long-distance run into a slog.

In the second half the film slides into a slump involving Mohan and his family hiding out in snowy South Dakota and waiting — an interminable part of a spy’s life — for something to shift. There are parts when the danger of discovery and certain death is mixed with tense laughter or tenderness – for example, a dinner featuring rogan josh and table full of people looking askance at each other, or a sequence full of frisson between KM and her passionate operative– lifts the proceedings somewhat, but it isn’t enough for us to stay consistently engaged. And every time Tabu is not on screen, we miss her: we needed more of her and Badhon. We needed more of the older Bhardwaj who makes things sing.

It's also great to, finally, see a boss who really knows his job better than his underlings and more than a token character the lead reports to. Ashish Vidyarthi has no problem conveying his wisdom and seniority to the hilt.