Khufiya

It is a 2023 Hindi language spy thriller. Written, produced & directed by Vishal Bharadwaj. The film is based on Amar Bhushan’s espionage novel ‘Escape to Nowhere’. It stars Tabu, Ali Fasal, Wamiqa Gabbi with others.

The film was released on 5 October 2023 on Netflix.

Bangladeshi actress Azmeri Haque Badhon makes her Hindi film debut. Principal photography began in October 2021 with a schedule in Delhi. The final schedule commenced from April 2022 in Canada.

Krishna Mehra (Tabu) is an operative at the Research & Analysis wing grappling with her duel identity as a spy & a lover. She is assigned to track down the mole selling India’s defense secrets. KM & her boss Jeev ( Ashish Vidyarthi ) establish that Ravi ( Ali Fazal) whose lavishlifestyle does not match his income must be the mole. They suspect his wife Charu ( Wamiqa Gabi) to be his partner is delivering secrets. They obtain permission to have Ravi’s house under surveillance. After elecronically bugging his place they start finding how things are being operated.

A bit slow but engrossing. As Anuj Kumar writes in Hindu that, ” The Urdu word for ‘secret’ refers more than just the effort that intelligence organisations put into maintaining tabs on their targets. It is about the secrets we keep in our hearts & the masks we wear to hide who we are.”

Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV gave it 3.5 stars of 5. It is superbly performed in & directed with a noteworthy light touch, succeeds on every level without drawing attention to it’s outstanding technical accomplishments.

Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com said the workoholic spies in Khufiya are just like 9-5 office workers, they become upset when a leave is shortened & are constantly late for family events. You can count on Baradwaj to depict the banal particulars of their daily lives with his distinct humour.

A must watch film.