Making films on issues revolving around India and Pakistan is one of the most favorite (and favorable) subjects of Bollywood, and the latest addition to this list is Vidyut Jammwal starrer “IB7 ”. The film is based on a real life incident and is a salute to the unsung heroes of our nation whose courage and sacrifices kept the country safe but unfortunately it remained only in the pages of history.
The story of the film was cleared to a large extent from its trailer itself and as it was inspired from real life incidents there’s not much which could be added to it. “IB71” is based on the background of the 1971 India-Pakistan war and how India’s strategic war proved effective and Bangladesh was carved out of Pakistan.
Pakistan along with China was planning to attack India and India was not ready for it. In such a situation, the only way to stop them was to close the airspace, but a solid reason was needed to do so. The Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) was given the responsibility to tackle it. Chief SN Awasthi (Anupam Kher) and IB Agent Dev Jammwal (Vidyut Jammwal) prepare a strategy to sabotage this plan of Pakistan. The plan made to make this mission successful was very dangerous as it was going to play with the lives of 30 Indians. Whether IB succeeded in its mission or not and what all the challenges they faced in the process is the crux of the story.
The film is directed by “The Ghazi Attack ” fame director Sankalp Reddy. Reddy has already made a name for himself when it comes to the war genre and once again he has succeeded in presenting a not-much-known story to the audiences. The cinematography of the film is excellent and it maintains the tension while capturing the zeitgeist of the 70’s. The adventures, the snowy valleys, the mountains, everything is depicted very well which elevates the film’s intentions. The background music gets too loud at places and interrupts with your watching experience.
Vidyut Jammwal has turned to the producer’s chair with this film and needs to be praised for the subject that he has picked up for his debut. Even though the film revolves much around Vidyut Jammwal’s character, he fails to please the audience with his acting. He has no competition when it comes to action, but there’s a lot to improve when it comes to acting. But it’s regardless a good sign that Vidyut is looking to explore scripts where he gets to do more than showing his body and action skills.
In terms of performance, the strongest link of the film is Vishal Jethwa. He plays the character of Kasim Qureshi, one of the two hijackers. The interesting thing is that he is the villain of the film as well as the comic relief. Anupam Kher is a brilliant actor and here too he has done full justice to his character in the role of IB Chief. Dalip Tahir suits in the role of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The film is approximately 2 hours long but at several points it feels stretched for no reason. The first half is spent in setting the story whereas all the drama and action is saved for the second half, so you gotta have patience! It’s not one of those over the top patriotic thrillers where you’ll see the hero beating 5-10 people alone giving the audience a huge adrenaline rush.It neither over uses the topic of nationalism nor makes Pakistan a villian. It’s raw and real as much as it could be which makes it a decent watch.
“IB71” is now showing at thea
ters near you!
