IB71 movie review: Vidyut Jammwal like never before in a gripping salute to Mother India

IB71 movie review

There was a submarine in the solid The Ghazi Attack, here it’s an aircraft in Sankalp Reddy directed IB71 - another story that helped us win the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

Many of us are not aware of such a valour of the Indian Army and kudos to Vidyut Jammwal in believing in its potential and getting associated not just as an actor but as a producer as well.

The action phenomena could have looked for a more action packed dhamaka that will give the audience plenty of action but here in IB71 Vidyut steps out of his comfort zone and delivers.

Uri, The Ghazi Attack, Raazi, Shershah, Bollywood now has been constantly churning spy thrillers that are engaging, entertaining and enlightening.

IB71 keeps you at the edge of your seat right from the word go, the movie that brings the unsung and unappreciated heroes of the 1971 war to the big screen gets the appreciation from the audience without wasting much time. Its inspiring to know that how a team of thirty agents led by Dev fooled the Pak intelligence and made a significant contribution to India’s great victory over Pak in that war that followed.

Director Sankalp Reddy’s team of writers - Arjun Varma, E. Vasudeva Reddy, Arun Bhimavarapu, Gargee Singh, Abhimanyu Srivastava simplify it in the best possible populist way to cater to the larger audience.

The phone call scene, the plane burning scene, Dilip Tahil as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto will come under the scanner and may be termed as a parody by those who look for complete accuracy.

However, the biggest unconventional event is Vidyut Jammwal seen in a role that requires more acting skills than stunts and the action phenomenon does it fabulously.

There is action when required so don’t be disappointed, but if you are looking for bang bang action right from the word go till the end then you are in for surprise.

Why am calling it a surprise and not a shock or disappointment is the fact that the movie will keep you on the hook no matter what has brought you to theatres.

The whole procedure and how Vidyut plans this mind game by defeating the enemy Pakistan will make you proud and happy.

Technically the movie is fine. For me the period of 70’s depicted in the movie was off and on. Cinematography by Gnana Shekar V. S. is excellent. Editing by Sandeep Francis is crisp. Music by        Prashanth R Vihari and Vikram Montrose is functional. The Kashmiri and Punjabi accent is satisfactory.

Performance

Vidyut Jammwal redefines himself and wins heart with his performance.     

Anupam Kher is fabulous as the IB Chief N.S. Awasthi. Vishal Jethwa as the Kashmir extremist Qasim Qureshi shows once again that he is an actor with tremendous potential. Faizan Khan as Vishal Jethwa’s associate is also very good. Hobby Dhaliwal as Pak army chief Abdul Hamid Khan is good.

IB71 Final words

IB71 is a new chapter in Hindi cinema’s War espionage spy thriller drama that turns into a new beginning in the career of the action phenomenon Vidyut Jammwal. Vidyut shows courage in bringing this story that needs to be told as a producer. This thoroughly engaging espionage thriller is a must for every Indian, every human round the globe. There is no love angle in this to the point spy thriller.

Going with 4 stars (an extra for the great unsung heroes of this great Hindustan)