Khufiya on Netflix as the title suggests, is a spy thriller based on the book – Escape to Nowhere written by Amar Bhushan, who himself has served in the R&AW – India’s “Agency”. Vishal Bhardwaj, co-writer and Director of the film knows a thing or two about adapting popular novels to films as seen by his earlier attempts at recreating many of Shakespeare’s novels. I haven’t read this book and hence cannot comment if the film has done justice to the novel or not, but I can say in isolation that Vishal has put together a mostly engaging film in the genre of spy thrillers.
The film is set in the early years of this millennium when as a country our preoccupation with Pakistan was at its peak, following key incidents like the Kargil War and the IC 814 hijack. Obviously, the agencies on both sides of the border were busy trying to get at each other. But this film is not about our country’s espionage activities with Pakistan or vice versa but about the collateral after-effects involving other countries including the US.
The main story is about the discovery of a mole within R&AW and the agency’s way of dealing with him and getting him back. While pivoting the plot on this institutional Khufiya (secret), Vishal and his co-writer Rohan Nirula take us through many other “secret” aspects in the personal lives of other characters. This plot which is tight and very engaging in the 1st half, goes a bit haywire in the 2nd half as the film heads to a closure. Much of what’s shown in the 2nd half is hardly believable for a genre film but to the screenplay’s credit, keeps us hooked. The pace of the film is a bit slow and at close to 3 hours, the film is way too long. The film gives a good view of how a real Khufiya world works in a very non-glamourous way doing non-glamourous spying activities contrary to the world espoused in Bond films and Bollywood films of late.
In Bollywood, there are very few director–actress pairs that elevate the storytelling experience as the Vishal–Tabu pair. Tabu understands the exact meter required for the role by Vishal and delivers a performance that is terrific. As an R&AW operative heading the team mandated to pin down her own colleague, she switches between being domineering and vulnerable with comfortable ease. She owns the frames where she is present with her towering screen presence and one would have liked to see more of her in the film. She is ably supported by an ensemble cast of Ashish Vidyarthi, Wamiqa, Ali Zafar and others.
Though this isn’t a typical Vishal Bhardwaj film, his imprint is unmissable. The on-and-off wading to poetry, the stressing of a mole within “Mole”, the references to theatre and of course Shakespeare in between and a fleeting commentary on the mix of religion in today’s society… all bear the Vishal Bhardwaj stamp. What is missing of course are the actual poetry and the poignant music of his songs.
A lot of attention and focus are required to understand the nuances of what’s happening in this film. Luckily being on OTT, we have the flexibility to go back repeatedly in case we don’t get something. Therefore, it made terrific sense to just make it an OTT play film. Vishal Bhardwaj is an intelligent filmmaker who overestimates the audience all the time. In Khufiya, thankfully his indulgence is limited.
Khufiya is a good film that’s worth a watch. It is streaming on Netflix.
AnandKumarRSonFilms 
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