Opening Doorz

By Martin D’Souza | Opening Doorz Editorial | February 17, 2017

Rating: 4 / 5

The essence: The maneuvers of the Indian Submarine as it rises and sinks to deviate from the line of the enemy torpedoes are ‘edge-of-the-seat’ moments. Watch The Ghazi Attack for its technical finesse, and the manner in which it salutes our armed forces, who display extraordinary courage in the line of fire.

Disputed History of PNS Ghazi
It is clearly a mystery in what actually caused the PNS Ghazi to actually sink; and has been greatly disputed by both Pakistan and India. The Pakistani side argue that the Submarine was sunk by accidental detonation whilst laying its own mine in order to sink Indian Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant. Former Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash in an 2011 interview said: “There’s a certain fog of war around this incident because subsequent investigations by our own navy found out that there had been internal explosions inside the submarine. She was carrying mines, and submarines… also larger banks of batteries which exude hydrogen so explosion can take place. So there’s a certain amount of uncertainty whether she sank because of our naval action or whether of internal explosions.”

The film is based on the mysterious sinking of the Pakistani submarine during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. —Source: Wikipedia

The Ghazi Attack is packed with patriotism and two back-to-back National Anthems. People were standing, both times, within a space of five minutes, and my only fear is that there should be no more attacks on unsuspecting civilians, (who would prefer to watch the movie which has reached an engrossing point at this time rather than let the intensity of the plot be lost), by ‘patriotic’ Indians who are quick to decide who is patriotic,

Also, like how film-makers put a disclaimer before a movie in which they now say a whole lot of other things as well, like that of not hurting the sentiments of any communities etc etc. the government should also come with a disclaimer stating not standing during the National Anthem which is embedded within a movie is the prerogative of the viewer and does not make him or her any less patriotic than the ones standing.

Having said that, the first National Anthem was cleverly woven into the plot, which does make any Indian proud. Indian Submarine S21, sent on a mission with orders not to attack, is  paralyzed underwater by an attack from its Pakistani counterpart PNS Ghazi. They have lost their captain and the second-in-command takes over. The Submarine can now only move up and down with battery power lost and most of its circuits damaged. Inspite of this, the captain and crew show immense chutzpah to thwart seven torpedo attacks from the enemy vessel, draw the unsuspecting submarine closer towards them and manually launch their torpedo from the front. It all makes for interesting viewing and brings to focus the sacrifices our armed forces make for us civilians.

First-time director Sankalp Reddy has done a fabulous job underwater with all the special effects to take the viewer to the sea bed where the action is being carried out. Technically, this movie is sound bringing to life an era gone by. Performance wise, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni and Rana Dagubatti are the three heroes on whom the film spins. All three rise to the occasion.

The maneuvers of the Indian Submarine as it rises and sinks to deviate from the line of the enemy torpedoes are ‘edge-of-the-seat’ moments. And for an Indian film, the first of its kind, with a submarine as its subject, The Ghazi Attack is cleverly executed.

Watch it for its technical finesse, and the manner in which it salutes our armed forces, who display extraordinary courage in the line of fire.

In the end, you do want to stand and salute our unsung heroes.

CREDITS
Producer: Karan Johar
Director: Sankalp Reddy
Star Cast: Rana Dagubatti, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Taapsee Pannu