Ghazi (film)

Ghazi is a 2017 Indian war film written and directed by Sankalp Reddy, which was simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi languages, with the latter titled The Ghazi Attack.[3] The film stars Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni and Satya Dev.[4] The film grossed over ₹345 million (US$4.3 million) on a budget of ₹150 million (US$1.9 million).[1]

Ghazi
Theatrical release poster of Telugu Version
Directed bySankalp Reddy
Written byAzad Alam
Gangaraju Gunnam
Screenplay bySankalp Reddy
Gangaraju Gunnam
Niranjan Reddy
Produced byAnvesh Reddy
Dil Raju
Prasad V Potluri
NM Pasha
Jagan Mohan Vancha
StarringRana Daggubati
Atul Kulkarni
Kay Kay Menon
Taapsee Pannu
Rahul Singh
Satya Dev
CinematographyR. Madhi
Edited byA. Sreekar Prasad
Music byKrishna Kumar
Tapas Nayak
Production
companies
PVP Cinema
Matinee Entertainment
Distributed byDharma Productions
AA Films (Hindi version)
Release date
  • 17 February 2017 (2017-02-17)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesTelugu
Hindi
Budget₹15 crore[1]
Box officeest. ₹34.5 crore [2]

Ghazi is inspired by true 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 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.[2] The film later won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu.[11] It was also nominated for Best Film and Best Director at 65th Filmfare Awards South.

Plot

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 and realizes 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 noticed 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.

The ending titles narrate the mysterious circumstances about Ghazi's fate, with its sinking credited to the actions of INS Rajput. It also mentions that in the aftermath of Ghazi's sinking, India and Pakistan had declared war on each other, which would ultimately result in India's victory, Pakistan's surrender and the creation of Bangladesh.

Cast
  • Rana Daggubati as Lieutenant Commander Arjun Varma
  • Kay Kay Menon as Captain Ran Vijay Singh
  • Atul Kulkarni as Lieutenant Commander Santosh Devraj, Executive Officer
  • Taapsee Pannu as Dr. Ananya, a Bengali doctor turned refugee
  • Om Puri as Admiral V.S. Nanda, Indian Navy
  • Nassar as Vice Admiral K.T. Raman, Indian Navy
  • Milind Gunaji as Girish Kumar, RAW Agent
  • Rahul Singh as Commander Razak Khan, Ghazi
  • Satyadev as Rajeev Thakur, Sonar operator S21
  • Ravi Varma as Kamalakar Shinde, Battery operator of the S21
  • Priyadarshi Pullikonda as Lt. Nilesh Mishra, Radio operator of S21
  • Bharath Reddy as B.Sanjay of S21
  • Bikramjeet Kanwarpal as Pakistan Navy Staff Officer
  • Thiruveer as V.Murthy, Depth Controller of S21
  • Jay Jha as Navigation Officer, Ghazi
  • Capt SN Ahmed as Lieutenant Taan Singh, torpedo operator of the S21
  • Niteesh Pandey as N.Tiwari, steering controller of the S21
  • Kunal Kaushik as Kapil Singh
  • Malyaban Lahiri as Ranjan Sengupta, Junior Officer of the S21
  • Naren Yadav as Ram Sagar of the S21
  • Dhruva as Saleem of the S21
  • Lakshmikanth Dev as Raj of the S21
  • Ramanuj Dubey as Indian cook Iqbal S21
  • Ravi Kumar Shada
  • Akshay Mittal as Sublieutenant – Indian Naval Navigation Officer S21
  • Rama Rao Jadhav as Pump Controller S21
  • Laxman Meesala
  • Appaji Ambarisha Darbha as Ananya's father

Production

Development

PVP Cinema has produced the film.[12][13] Karan Johar distributed the Hindi version.[14] The music is composed by K.[15] Visual Effects handled by Eva Motion Studios.

Casting and crew

The film stars Rana Daggubati[16][17] and Taapsee Pannu[18][19] in the lead along with Kay Kay Menon,[20] Satyadev Kancharana,[21] Atul Kulkarni, Ramanuj Dubey, Kunal Kaushik, Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Rahul Singh, Akshay Mittal, Malyaban Lahiri and Naren Yadav.[22] Cinematography is done by Madhi, music composed by K, Visual Effects Supervisor Vasudeva R Enugala and editing by Sreeker Prasad.[23][24]

Filming

The film shooting started on 3 January 2016.[25][26]

Actual events

Indian Navy claims to have sunk the PNS Ghazi on 3 December 1971 at the Vishakhapatnam harbour when then Captain Inder Singh of INS Rajput ordered the attack upon it. However the Pakistan Navy dispute the claim; as Pakistan naval inquiries believes the Ghazi might have sunk due to it mistakenly entering its own minefield and collided with one of the mines, which resulted in the violent underwater explosion.[27]

Box office

Ghazi grossed a total of ₹34.53 crore (US$4.3 million) overall, including ₹28 crore (US$3.5 million) in India and $975,000 overseas.[2]

Critical reception

Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India gave the film a rating of 3 out of 5 and said that, "While the visuals and special effects lack finesse, the film compensates for it with its riveting story. Despite the hitches, this underwater thriller is worth a watch."[28] Shalini Langer of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 1.5 out of 5 saying that the film "could have been an engrossing crisis-at-sea drama but the film is so busy slaying Pakistanis that it loses sight of its core strengths."[29] Prasanna D Zore of Rediff said that, "The Ghazi Attack is a riveting telling of a war story" and gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5.[30] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 saying that, "The Ghazi Attack delivers many a riveting moment and is bolstered by the talent of a few capable actors. Its plot, however, is devoid of any mystery."[31] Bollywood Hungama gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 saying that the movie "is a gripping war drama that leaves a stunning impact."[32] Divya Pal of News18 criticized the screenplay and direction of the film and gave the film a rating of 1.5 out of 5 saying that, "All in all, "The Ghazi Attack" is utterly disappointing."[33] Authors at "The Reading Hook" featured this film in their list of best Bollywood War Movies ever made and was positively accepted by their readers."[34]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref
3 May 2018 65th National Film Awards Best Feature Film in Telugu Ghazi Won [35]
16 June 2018 65th Filmfare Awards South Best Film – Telugu PVP Cinema
Matinee Entertainment		 Nominated [36]
Best Director – Telugu Sankalp Reddy Nominated
26 August 2018 16th Santosham Film Awards Best Director Sankalp Reddy Won
14 & 15 September 2018 7th South Indian International Movie Awards Best Film (Telugu) PVP Cinema
Matinee Entertainment		 Nominated [37][38]
Best Director (Telugu) Sankalp Reddy Nominated
Best Debut Director – Telugu Nominated
Best Supporting Actor (Telugu) Kay Kay Menon Nominated
Entertainer of the Year Rana Daggubati Won

See also

References
  1. Rana Daggubati and Akreta Saim (14 June 2019). ScoopWhoop Townhall ft. Rana Daggubati Ep. 8. Schoopwhoop Unscripted.
  2. "The Ghazi Attack". BoxOfficeIndia. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. "The Ghazi Attack: Why did India destroy records of one of its greatest naval victories – InUth". 13 January 2017.
  4. "Taapsee Pannu taking History lessons for 'Ghazi'". 19 January 2016.
  5. ScoopWhoop (11 January 2017). "The Ghazi Attack: An Indo-Pak War So Deep Underwater That It Never Surfaced In History".
  6. "The truth behind the Navy's 'sinking' of Ghazi". Sify. 26 May 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  7. "Visakhapatnam: Sunk Pakistani submarine Ghazi is an enigma". Deccan Chronicle.
  8. Sumit Bhattacharjee (24 January 2016). "From a small outpost to a major command". The Hindu.
  9. S.N.V. SUDHIR (24 November 2015). "Visakhapatnam: Sunk Pakistani submarine Ghazi is an enigma".
  10. Hooli, Shekhar H. (17 February 2017). "Ghazi movie review roundup: Rana Daggubati's film gets good verdict, ratings from Telugu critics". IB Times. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  11. "65th National Film Awards LIVE: Sridevi Posthumously Awarded Best Actress; Vinod Khanna Honoured With Dada Saheb Phalke Award". News 18date=13 April 2018. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  12. Jonnalagedda, Pranita (15 January 2017). "Rana to act in India's first submarine film". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  13. "Taapsee to play refugee in Ghazi opposite Rana Daggubati". Deccan Chronicle.
  14. "Karan Johar to distribute Ghazi".
  15. "Interview with K – "Aandavan Kattalai is an exciting prospect for me"". Only Kollywood. 18 May 2016.
  16. "From 'Baahubali' to 'Ghazi', Rana Daggubati has come a long way". Times of India.
  17. "Rana Daggubati begins shooting for 'Ghazi'". The Indian Express. 7 January 2016.
  18. "I play a Bangladeshi refugee in Ghazi, says Taapsee Pannu". 2 February 2016.
  19. "Taapsee Pannu intrigued by 'Ghazi'". The Indian Express. 18 January 2016.
  20. "Kay Kay Menon enters T'wood with Ghazi". 19 January 2016.
  21. "Ghazi turns Satyadev into a sonar operator". 6 February 2016.
  22. Y. Sunita Chowdhary (8 December 2015). "What lies beneath?". The Hindu.
  23. "Ghazi – Story of unwritten heroes of our country". Top 10 Cinema. 11 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  24. "The Ghazi Attack on Bhaskar.com". Dainik Bhaskar.
  25. "Rana Daggubati's diving expeditions for 1971 war drama, 'Ghazi'". The Times of India. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  26. "Rana shoots for Ghazi, based on sinking of Pak submarine in 1971". Hindustan Times. 7 January 2016.
  27. Goswami, Parismita (16 February 2017). "The Ghazi Attack: A few facts that you should know about one of India's greatest naval victories". International Business Times.
  28. "The Ghazi Attack Movie Review". The Times of India.
  29. "The Ghazi Attack movie review: India's first underwater film drowns under its weight". The Indian Express. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  30. "Review: The Ghazi Attack: A Must Watch Film". Rediff.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  31. "The Ghazi Attack Movie Review: Rana Daggubati's Film Is Devoid Of Mystery". NDTV. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  32. "Movie Review: The Ghazi Attack". Bollywood Hungama.
  33. "The Ghazi Attack Movie Review: Poor Script, Flawed Direction Dilutes The Impact". News18. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  34. "Best Indian War Movies Ever Made". Reading Hook. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  35. "National Awards 2018: Ghazi gets best movie, Baahubali 2 wins 3 honors". International Business Times. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  36. "Nominations for the 65th Jio Filmfare Awards (South) 2018". Filmfare. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  37. "SIIMA Awards 2018 - Telugu, Kannada nomination list out: Date, place of 7th edition revealed". International Business Times. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  38. "SIIMA Awards 2018 Telugu Kannada winners list live updates: Baahubali 2 and Rajakumara turn best movies [Photos]". International Business Times. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
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