Nikhil’s ‘Spy’ movie review

Young hero Nikhil pinned a lot of his hopes on “Spy,” which is based on the very interesting real-life story of the disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The film is promoted as a slick spy thriller. The film hits theatres today and let’s see how it fares at box-office.

Story

Jai (Nikhil) is a RAW agent working in Sri Lanka. He is notified of terrorist activity after a terrorist named Kaadir Khan, who is believed to be killed, resurfaces and sends a video to the prime minister’s office. Jai is now designated with the mission of nabbing Kaadir. In the process, he discovers the personal loss he had to suffer due to this particular terrorist. How is this mission related to the disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandrabose?

Analysis

Garry BH, an editor, turns director with “Spy.” As the name suggests, it belongs to the spy thriller genre and is set in the backdrop of an Indian RAW agency with a terrorism-related plot. Spy thrillers are getting made frequently in recent years. A readily available blueprint, with easy placement of actions and thrills, is the luring factor.

However, despite the availability of a formula, only a few with an intriguing plot or larger-than-life execution or a combination of both have succeeded. The rest failed to impress.

“Spy” is not a larger-than-life attempt despite the presence of several action blocks and chases. Therefore, the content must have the thrills, and the execution has the grip to hold the attention. “Spy” fails on both counts and manages to deliver only in parts.

The problem is Spy is evident from the beginning itself. The opening mission and hero introduction follow the line in execution. But they leave no emotion behind. There is no feeling – neither a sense of high or low. Things just go on blandly. And that’s how things progress until the subplot related to Subhash Chandra Bose is revealed around the pre-interval mark. It makes one hopeful about the events ahead and looks forward to the second half despite a standard interval bang.

Unfortunately, the narrative doesn’t give it (Subhash Chandra Bose angle) much chance and progresses on the spy genre cliches with the twists and turns in place. Nothing should come as a surprise if one has seen enough movies in the genre. Some of them are, in fact, used in previous flicks.

Again, around the pre-climax mark, some interest is generated with a twist, but it is short-lived. The bland execution with no high should get the blame here. The whole thing gets monotonous long ago, and the end provides a relief to all the endless tirades.

Overall, “Spy” ticks all spy genre-related cliches and serves them in a screenplay with nonstop action. Only here, the ‘action’ neither thrills nor awes. It is as bland as it comes. If you like the genre, there is hardly anything new.

Performances

Nikhil is seen playing a spy here. However, there is no visible change in his body language. He goes about his work sincerely, and nothing is there to complain about. One can’t help but feel if the role was a bit heavier (leading such a huge mission) for him to pull off, though, like his previous flicks, where he felt adept and right. In the end, Spy ends up as a regular fare for him performance-wise, mainly due to the weak writing with no high and predictable moments.

Iswarya Menon is fine. She looks good and carries off her limited presence with confidence. There is nothing more to it, though.

We have actors like Aryan Rajesh, Tanikella Bharani, Jissu Sengupta, Makrand Deshpande, Abhinav Gomatam, Sachin Khedekar, Sanya Thakur, Posani Krishna Murali, Prudhvi, Ravi Varma, and last but not the least Rana Daggubati in a cameo appearance. It is an exhaustive list, but none of them leaves a mark.

Makrand Deshpande has a critical role and goes through the chore in his style. The rest doesn’t have such length and only appears in a scene or two.

Rana Daggubati’s cameo is dialogue-based, and he does his usual work.

Technicalities

Talented editor, Garry BH turns a director with this film. Being an editor, one would expect him to deliver a sharply-cut spy thriller. However, the X factor and sharpness is limited in this film as it mostly progresses on a predicable note.

Vishal Chandrasekhar and Sricharan Pakala provide the music. There are two songs, and they are forgettable. The one in the second half had potential, situation-wise, but got wasted. Sricharan Pakala provides the background score, and it’s adequate for the setting. Vamshi Patchipulusu and Mark David’s cinematography is okay. Garry BH, the director, also handles the editing and it is already discussed. The writing is the weak link here. It lacks depth and comes across as formulaic from the start.

Advantages

Nikhil’s performance

Visuals

Drawbacks

Predictable narration

No exciting scenes

Poor mix of Netaji track