The plot, summing up straight is about Bose's life, moreover Bose's secret life, about how he used to go around confusing his opponents and in the end almost always getting things the way he planned. For those who don't know, the death of this man is a topic debated on India for several decades, many people don't believe that he died on the plane crash, leaving India with a topic that conspiracy theorists would grasp upon quickly, making it something which people yet debate upon.
Coming to the acting, I felt it was a little disappointing to see Rajkummar Rao's take on it, though apt, it's not like Bose never smiled. Though he did speak slowly, but it wasn't quite the way Bose actually did, moreover him quickly switching to Bengali and then to Hindi randomly wasn't quite as appealing as they tried to make it. Here, Naveen Kasturia plays the role of Darbari Lal, an Indian police officer working directly under the British officers. He maintains respect for Bose and is annoyed by him at the same time while he's doing his duty of trying to track Bose down. Seems to be a simple character. Isn't. Quite a complicated, yet funny character. No one but Kasturia could have bettered it, he really proves his skills here, we've not seen him do such kinds of role before, and it actually took me a while to figure out that his character was really being played by him. Brilliant, brilliant acting by Naveen Kasturia. Once again proving his worth and I might even go about saying that I already find him one of the best actors in the film industry.
The story makes some bold statements on Congress and Gandhi's ideologies, though I personally felt they were logical, it was something that I feel could have offended a certain section. The plot, though was pretty interesting in general and sure kept you hooked up till the very end. However, some sections were just plain unrealistic.
The scripting and direction were okay, not the best that I've ever seen, but certainly one of the best I've seen from India.
The soundtracks seemed to come out of nowhere and they really seemed elongated and just sometimes... was out of tone really. In my opinion the soundtracks were the worst part.
Ratings:
Acting: 9/10 Plot: 8/10 Direction: 7/10 Soundtrack: 4/10
Summary: Good, but not as great as reviewers have been portraying it.
Disclaimer: These are all personal opinions.
