2.5 / 5
The film revolves around a female RAW agent, Durga Singh (Parineeti Chopra), who by chance meets Dr. Mirza Ali (Harrdy Sandhu), who is half Turkish, half Punjabi in Afghanistan. Sparks fly, and it looks like they’re all set to get married soon. But it was all a plot to use him as a bait. She’s really after Khalid Omar (Sharad Kelkar), the fearsome terrorist who blew up the Indian Parliament years earlier and is hiding in Turkey. We are then informed that her handler, Ajay Bakshi (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), has become a fraud, and she has received orders to find and execute him. Involved in all this is the Pakistani agent (Shishir Sharma) who wants to capture Ajay Bakshi for his nefarious purposes. The way Durga carries out his mission and eventually manages to corner Khalid Omar into the pivotal position of the film.
We’ve seen spy movies like Salt (2010), Atomic Blonde (2017) and Red Sparrow (2018) in Hollywood before, and finally, the trend is starting to show up in Bollywood as well. Naam Shabana (2017), Raazi (2018) and Dhaakad (2022) are three obvious examples. Codename: Tiranga is another addition to that. It is closer to Dhaakad than other places when it comes to treatment. Parineeti Chopra plays a superhero who can kick, punch and shoot at bad guys even when blindfolded. No racing.
The movie has some nice action scenes. The gunfight gameplay is mainly inspired by first-person shooter games. In the climax, Parineeti single-handedly goes up against a small army and kills them all with a single shot to the head. But it’s not just about guns. She also goes mano-a-mano with goons and takes the lead. For instance, her climactic battle with Sharad Kelkar was a bloody one, both with multiple injuries. The film has been shot in many locations overseas and looks quite picturesque. The chase scenes, whether in the car or on foot, are very good. Another thing the movie got right was the use of foreign mercenaries by Indian and Pakistani agents. The segments where mercenaries storm Khalid Omar’s fortress are filmed like proper fight scenes, with lots of casualties all around.
But it seems that director Ribhu Dasgupta only focused on the action scenes and as a result let everything else slide. The plot of the film is as thin as paper and doesn’t give you any surprises, the way a spy movie should. And there is no emotional core to the film because Parineeti and Harrdy Sandhu’s romantic anthem wasn’t developed properly. Better handwriting and clearer characters would make it a rattling watch. To reiterate, while the action grabs your attention, the pointless plot doesn’t hold you back at all.
Hardy Sandhu impresses in his limited role. He looks partial and confident in front of the camera. Parineeti Chopra gave her all for the film. She is 100% absorbed in her character and does a lot of physical work on it. But above all, she’s a performer and doesn’t have much scope to make her history in film. As said earlier, her scenes with Harrdy are too few and too far, though they make for a good pairing. But all her enthusiasm and commitment wasn’t enough to save the movie.
Only watch Code Name: Tiranga if you are a die hard action movie lover who must see everything released in this genre. If not, avoid it.
Trailer: Codename: Tiranga
Archika Khurana, October 14, 2022, 3:28 a.m. IST
2.5 / 5
Codename: Tiranga Story: Durga (Parineeti Chopra), a special agent, is tasked with capturing Khalid Omar (Sharad Kelkar), the mastermind behind the 2001 attack on Parliament. While on the mission, she develops feelings for Dr. Mirza Ali (Harry Sandhu). Will she put her love for him before the mission and jeopardize the mission, or will she be able to complete it?
Codename: Tiranga Review: Codename: Tiranga, written and directed by Ribhu Dasgupta, follows an undercover agent Ismat/Durga who marries a civilian Dr. Mirza Ali as part of a plan to capture Omar in Turkey. Will Dr. Mirza ever know who she really is? Can Durga track down Omar? This action drama contains all the answers. Parineeti Chopra starred in Ribhu’s previous psychological thriller, The girl on the train, but this time she takes on a whole new personality. As the film’s director, Dasgupta did a decent job but lacked the writing skills needed to make a compelling thriller.
It’s refreshing to watch Parineeti Chopra take on villains whose sole purpose is to serve the country. The parts where she participates in hand-to-hand combat and gunfight are quite smooth. Her determination to make her action avatar believable is palpable.
Punjabi singer and actor, Harrdy Sandhu, who was last seen in Kabir Khan’s 83, solid support for the story. On screen, a new pair of Harrdy and Parineeti is being loved. Sharad Kelkar as the main antagonist Omar, tried too hard to give her character credibility but was allowed by the scripting team. Moreover, his character is very cliché, like any other Muslim terrorist we have seen in some movies. Even famous actors like Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Rajit Kapur have not been used up.
The action choreography gets maximum credit, as the story of this spy thriller is pretty predictable from the start. The movie’s script could have been better; instead, it appears to be a combination of many such action thrillers, including Ek Tha Tiger, Raazi and others. However, this film lacks a solid plot and a well-invested script to justify the action scenes.
By the time we get to the climbing sequence, Codename: Tiranga lasted about two hours and 18 minutes, leaving you feeling a little let down. The main problem with the movie is that one can predict what will be served next, and it takes a long time to watch because of Durga and Omar’s game of cat and mouse. Adding a few twists in the plot will make the story more interesting.
These chases and confrontations are artfully choreographed on Turkish or Afghan routes, making them visually appealing to watch. Tribhuvan Babu Sadineni’s cinematography is fun to watch.
All in all, despite Parineeti’s heavy use of dialogue, Codename: Tiranga cannot produce the desired adrenaline rush. Though the story lacks substance, Parineeti delivers a strong performance in this predictable action thriller.
