Ground Zero is a respectful biopic but a story like this needed more heart to make an actual impact, feels Mayur Sanap.
Given Bollywood’s penchant for military biopics, it is difficult to expect anything fresh in this genre.
Ground Zero, which puts Emraan Hashmi in uniform, has the same-old cocktail of hero and heroics while depicting an important military operation.
He plays Border Security Force (BSF) commandant and Kirti Chakra awardee Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey, who led the 2003 operation to eliminate the terrorist Ghazi Baba in Kashmir.
But this film cannot be viewed in isolation after what happened in Pahalgam. To its credit, the film stays clear of any overt political statements or jingoistic grandstanding, which makes you appreciate its level-headed approach a bit more.
The story follows the manhunt for Ghazi Baba, right from the events of the 2001 Parliament attack to his eventual death at the hands of BSF soldiers.
The premise is exciting but not particularly novel, so the bigger challenge is how to keep viewers on the edge of their seat when the eventual result is already known to the world.
Director Tejas Deoskar goes with an approach of fact-based thriller that offers the military spectacle while also delving into the personal side of a solider. The action blocks are pretty sleek but the drama moments don’t land that well.
Writers Sanchit Gupta and Priyadarshee Srivastava devise a tale of patriotic valour by taking a soldier's point of view of the unfolding events and the psychological toll of such a high-stake job.
The film is undeniably reverent of the real-life hero but it moves with such a mechanical efficiency that keeps you emotionally distant despite a very earnest Emraan Hashmi.
'Hame logo ko darana nahi hain, unhe saath lekar aana hain,' he says at one point that showcases his faith in the local people.
He befriends a Kashmiri teenager, who becomes his close aid.
But when the mission goes awry, the scene depicting his guilt and remorse doesn’t hit the way it was intended to be.
The writing is too simplistic and is further hurt by a routine script that evokes the been-there-seen-that feeling. As a result, Emraan also suffers in a one-note character.
Sai Tamhankar repeats her homely housewife exterior from Agni but here, she gets a solid scene where she responds to prickly questions thrown at her husband.
But unlike her, the other actors just meander in stock characters that don't get much to do.
For all its right intentions, Ground Zero is a respectful biopic but a story like this needed more heart to make an actual impact.
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