Ghazi Film

[Jarrell Campbell]

Therewere evident problems and improvements I wanted to see. By the time the film was readied for re-release by its producers on March 29 2019, I was in a limbo, stuck between hopeful and skeptical. There was ample time to improve but how much could be improved?

The 'Project Ghazi' that the film's title refers to is an experiment by specialist Dr Ziad (Talat Hussain) whereby soldiers are enhanced so that their abilities are at maximum capacity - a nod to Captain America and the like. 15 years from the project, Salaar (Humayun Saeed) is the only surviving soldier around, due to a sacrifice made by his partner Taimur.

Taimur's son, Zain (Sheheryar Munawar) has inherited these super genetics from his father, although he is unaware of the origins of his abilities. When scientists and others involved in 'Project Ghazi' are targeted and super villain Kataan (Adnan Jafar) plans to drown the city in chaos, Zain must team up with Salaar to put a stop to it all.

I have to say this. Watching Project Ghazi after having seen the original, the improvements made weren't subtle at all. The audio was clearer, the timeline more logical and the CGI rendered to an acceptable state.

As the film progressed I realised that my viewing experience was affected by my comparing it to the 2017 version. For that reason, I may be appreciating the movie's improvements more than a general audience would.

However, I needed to see the movie as a stand-alone project. Sure, there were improvements but does Project Ghazi hold up on its own, keeping in mind that this is the only version the audience will be watching?

While any efforts on advancing the entertainment industry are worth appreciating, I do believe that the team behind Project Ghazi took on a monumental challenge with the film. They could've succeeded had they been more selective with the content.

While the CGI was top-notch compared to the previous production, there were still inconsistencies. At times, the VFX looked really good and at times they looked incomplete. There were also moments in the films that did not require any graphics at all, and scenes could have been cheated to get what the director needed from the sequence. Instead of fighter planes flying around in bad graphics, we could've had shots of the pilot in the cockpit.

During an already loaded action sequence, machine gun loaded drones - which looked like average drones - weren't necessary. Instead the team could have focused on the Salaar and Zain's battle with the mecha-tanks that defended the villain's base.

The entertainment industry has a long way to go and the filmmakers behind Project Ghazi didn't need to force all their ideas in one film. Had they been critical of their choices, they could've even readied a sequel.

There were few plot holes but what really put me and many members of the audience off was the frustrating amount of monologues in the film. Adnan Jafar's Kataan is rarely in dialogue with anyone. He. Just. Monologues.

Half-way through monologue number three I was exasperated. I wish I could say Jafar did his best with the script he received. After all, he has championed monologues from his theatre days. But Jafar's portrayal of Kataan was an amalgamation of every single villain from Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Bane, Joker and the Scarecrow, there was really nothing original about his character or how he played it and it was all over the place.

Sheheryar Munawar and Humayun Saeed definitely looked their parts and were pretty solid in the first half of the film. Towards the end, however, they felt too stoic for the intense action and the more passionate moments.

I was very hopeful of Syra Sharoz's Zara, a scientist who wants to get to the bottom of 'Project Ghazi' and what the realities were. Her first interaction with Zain showed that she can hold her own. However, as the film progresses it was heartbreaking to see Zara as a very redundant character, who's absence would have made little difference to the movie.

From the looks of it she was suppose to be the right-hand of Kataan but her character isn't fleshed out, has no impact, and has little context. She enters and exits her scene like a hyper cat, zipping in swatting at her targets and disappearing just as quickly. Can we still not write powerful female characters that are human and believable?

Talat Hussain's powerful speech gave him great presence on screen. He too had a few too many monologues but he played his character perfectly. We depend on his narrative to understand the backstory of the movie and also the progression of the film.

The gem of the movie, however, was Aamir Qureshi as Dilawar, the modern day armourer with a knack for developing high-tech weaponry. He yearns to go into the field for the action, definitely has the strength and built for it, but his intellect is much more valuable than his physical self.

Aamir's natural dialogue delivery and casual body language made him the most intriguing character around. In fact, his segment of introducing Zain to his creations and giving his own little backstory was the highlight of the movie. I wanted to see more of him and hope there's a spin-off with him in the lead in the works. May I suggest, Project Dilawar?

I hope the entertainment industry has taken their notes on the importance of post-production and taking time for perfecting a product. If nothing else, we need to be aware of what quality comes out of what deadline.Project Ghazi took some bold steps with a genre relatively new in Pakistan and if nothing else, it just might pave the path for more films, which will be a step ahead every time.

Ghazi is inspired by the fictional events from the mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[5] The story is about a submarine of the Indian Navy, an executive naval officer and his team, who remained underwater for 18 days.[6] It is about the valour of the crew aboard the Indian submarine INS Karanj (S21), which according to Indian claims destroyed the Pakistani PNS Ghazi submarine when it ventured into Indian waters to destroy INS Vikrant on the shores of Visakhapatnam.[7][8][9]

The film was released theatrically on 17 February 2017 to widespread critical acclaim and did decent business.[10] It was declared "Hit" by Box Office India.[11] The film later won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu.[12] It was also nominated for Best Film and Best Director at 65th Filmfare Awards South.

In November, 1971, India and Pakistan are on the verge of declaring war on each other, as a result of the refugee crisis precipitated by the Pakistan Army under Operation Searchlight. The Indian Navy and RAW decipher a secret code sent from Pakistan to East Pakistan (modern-day Bangladesh), relating to a possible attack on an Indian naval vessel. The Navy deduces that the target may be INS Vikrant, India's sole aircraft carrier. The top command dispatches the submarine S21, under the command of Captain Ranvijay Singh for recce missions. To temper Singh's belligerent tendencies, the Indian Navy Admiral assigns Lt. Cmdr Arjun Varma to S21, with orders to ensure that Singh does not confront any Pakistani warships and trigger a war.

The Navy's top command soon learns that the Pakistan Navy has dispatched PNS Ghazi, under Cmdr. Razak Khan, to the Bay of Bengal to confront Vikrant. Meanwhile, to divert the attention of the enemy, Ghazi torpedoes an Indian merchant ship. The attack is picked by S21, which races to the scene. Noticing survivors in the wreckage, Arjun jumps into the sea and manages to rescue a girl child and a woman, both of whom are Bengali refugees. During surveillance, S21 acquires a sonar signal of Ghazi.

Singh believes that they should track down Ghazi and attack, while Arjun obstructs, reiterating his instructions. Singh then orders the ship's EXO, Lt. Commander Santosh Devraj to conduct a drill and target Ghazi while doing so, despite Arjun's protests. They fire a torpedo, which misses Ghazi narrowly, thus alerting them of their presence. Aware of the enemy's presence, Razak orders his crew to head towards Visakhapatnam Port at full speed and to set up mines en route, planning to destroy S21.

S21 pursues Ghazi's path, but they realize at the last moment that it is headed into mines. Singh and Arjun frantically attempt to change its course but a mine explodes in the stern and damages most of the sub's batteries, propellers and circuits. The sub blows open many leaks, with the forward torpedo compartment flooded, crippling the sub and barring it from firing its forward torpedoes. Singh dies while trying to save Arjun, as S21 sinks to the sea-bed.

Arjun, now in command of the sub, regroups and work towards reviving S21. They manage to clog the sub's leaks and pumps the excess water out, before holding a final farewell for Singh. The crew notice that the vessel is incapable of moving in any direction, except upwards or downwards. Since they are unable to chase Ghazi, the crew artificially trigger one of the naval mines in its vicinity to lure Ghazi to their position. Razak, believing S21 is still operational, orders his crew to turn around to sink S21.Arjun and Devraj plan to lure Ghazi within its range of firing, but a suspicious Razak orders Ghazi's course to be changed at the last minute.

Ghazi, now having the ability to attack S21, fires six torpedoes, all of which are avoided by S21 through depth changing maneuvers, much to Razak's frustration. S21 dives to 350 m, in order to slip from Ghazi's sonar range despite being designed for a maximum of 250 m depth. With very limited battery support, Arjun instigates Ghazi into attacking by transmitting his crew singing 'Saare Jahaan se Achchha' and the Indian National Anthem. Riled up by S21's defiance, Razak orders another torpedo attack on S21, for which Ghazi will have to turn by port 180 degrees. Arjun dives into the flooded forward compartment to manually trigger the torpedoes, successfully managing to do so. Ghazi also launches its torpedo at the same time. The torpedo launched by Ghazi misses S21 narrowly, but it is hit by S21's torpedo and disintegrates in the water, killing the entire crew. S21 surfaces and the crew manages to save Arjun from the flooded compartment in the nick of time. S21 is later saved by a patrolling Indian Navy vessel.

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