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Code Name: Tiranga Movie Review: Parineeti Chopra-Harrdy Sandhu's Spy Thriller Is A Mission Gone Wrong
"Zindagi ki kahani zindagi se pehle shuru hoti hain, zindagi khatam hoti hain lekin kahani nahin," goes Parineeti Chopra's voiceover, followed by a badly bruised woman struggling her way amid the snow.
In a similar vein, as the film progresses, the stretched screenplay slows down the time and makes you a bit impatient in your seat.
What's Yay: Production value, a few action sequences
What's Nay: Story, Direction
Story
Code Name: Tiranga opens in Kabul, Afghanistan where Ismat (Parineeti Chopra) and Dr Mirza Ali (Harrdy Sandu) share the same cab and eventually end up becoming life partners. But hey, this isn't suppose to be a love story, right? So, it turns out that Ismat is actually Durga Singh, an undercover RAW agent who is on a mission to nab one of India's most wanted terrorists Khalid Umar (Sharad Kelkar).
Durga and her team set a trap for Umar at a wedding which he is supposed to grace. Unfortunately, her cover gets blown and she is forced to part ways with her husband Dr Mirza Ali. A year later, when Durga's subordinate Major Bakshi (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) is assumed to have gone rogue, the agency entrusts her on a mission to eliminate him in order to prevent their network in the Middle East from getting compromised.
However, little does Durga know this assignment would bring her face to face with her past.
Direction
After the Netflix film The Girl On The Last Train, Ribhu Dasgupta teams up with Parineeti Chopra once again for Code Name: Tiranga. Unfortunately, their reunion doesn't hit the bullseye.
Right from the first frame, Code Name: Tiranga has mediocre storytelling filled with clichéd twists. The slow-paced writing makes things more tiresome and the overused troupes fails to keep you engaged. Ribhu Dasgupta's sloppy direction is another reason why Code Name: Tiranga struggles to stay on its feet. There are times when the film gives you a Dhaakad déjà vu.
Performances
As the alpha one/best man in the team, Parineeti Chopra gets to beat the baddies, wield guns and throw kicks. She does a fair job when it comes to pulling off stylished action sequences. Ms Chopra even puts her best foot forward in emoting. However, her body language as an agent does come across as a bit stiff at times.
Harrdy Sandhu delivers an earnest performance even though his screen space is limited. Director Ribhu Dasgupta falls short of penning well-baked characters for seasoned actors like Sharad Kelkar, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Rajat Kapur.
Technical Aspects
One of the saving graces of this Parineeti Chopra-starrer is Tribhuvan Babu Sadineni's top-notch camerawork which gives you some major vacation goals. Even the drone shots add some sleekness to the otherwise arid story-telling. Sangeeth Prakash Varghese's editing is lousy especially in the PUBG-inspired action scene.
Music
The songs in Code Name: Tiranga are misplaced and lack memorable lyrics. 'Vande Mataram' which plays in the finale action scene looks out of context.
Verdict
There's a scene in the film where Parineeti Chopra's character describes her life as 'ghaavo ka guchcha'. The same holds true for this espionage thriller as well.
A film which is supposed to be high on patriotism and action ends up as a done-to-death vendetta story that barely has any thrills.
We give 2 stars out of 5 to Parineeti Chopra-Harrdy Sandhu's Code Name: Tiranga.
