How does one try to point out the flaws in a patently patriotic and is designed to enhance our Indianness - so much required in this day and age.
No comments on the story - viewers must have googled it before going for the movie. Set in 1990 in the background of Kuwait’s invasion by Iraq and the subsequent chaos that followed.
Story - told mainly from the eyes of Akshay Kumar. His is a sensitive performance but he has yet to learn the art of finer nuances of facial expression. The stolid and neutral look works fine most of the time. But a character who was flamboyant getting suddenly subdued after a change of heart dosent hold water in its interpretation. His forays into Arabic sound quite authentic.
His wife played by Nimrat Kaur - miscast in the role. She is supposed to be the wife a rich man leading a luxurious life in a foreign land. Faced with such a disaster, she maintains her equanimity and make-up as if faced a minor issue of the maid not coming to work.
Of the other characters, Prakash Belvadi as George Kutty shines as the irritating, "I am entitled" person. The gesture of his is funny as it is poignant.
What stretches the imagination is how an Iraqui major speaks chaste Hindi, albeit with an accent which is a mixture of Allahbad and Manhattan. Rather than coming off as a menacing conqueror, it looks like a 21st century version of Charlie Chaplin’s Great Dictator.
What has been grossly underplayed is the travails and agonies of 1, 70, 000 people - this is a big number and would fill more than Eden Park stands when full.
Commendable is the subdued performance of Kohli of the MEA.
The final moments of the movie manage a small stir of the heart strings and make up for what is going on till then on expected lines. Kudos to Hari Om Bhatia for putting his money behind his beliefs.