'IB 71' Movie Review: Slightly pakau Pak pic, phir se!

A still from the movie `IB 71` (Pic courtesy: Twitter)

Film: IB 71

Cast: Vidyut Jammwal, Anupam Kher, Vishal Jethwa

Director: Sankalp Reddy

Rating: 2/5

One of the film's opening slates, if I read right, is a dedication/tribute to all ‘Jammwalians', who aren't some kind of aliens from another galaxy. I'm guessing they're a vast network of fans of the lead actor, Vidyut Jammwal, who's also produced this picture for theatrical release. In the hope that his admirers suitably turn up, and pay up!

His production company is called Action Hero. Which is the genre of movies, he has perennially starred in - namely, Commando I, II, III, etc. In its very bread, butter plus cheesy form, it's not the film I'd particularly go gaga over.

But this movie, that is, IB 71 - IB for Intelligence Bureau, and not Imperial Blue, in case you're a low-deck drinker - isn't the sort of actioner made for so-called Jammwalians either.

What's the payback they'll look for? Basically, He-Man ripping his shirt off, to lift a motorbike on his head, which is my only surviving memory from Jammwal's debut, Force (2010) - or was it the lead, John Abraham, who did that?

Wrought iron Jammwal, 42, is anyway Bravo John of his generation - the latter, in turn, has similarly veered towards thrillers that don't require him to trouble his muscles that much; the likes of Madras Café, Parmanu, etc.

IB 71 is an attempt to scope out something similar. Meaning, a mix of hostage drama and espionage thriller, where Jammwal isn't James Bond - he plays a sarkari agent still, who can wallop a fellow or two, when no one's looking.

This then, sadly, requires all the more humanising elements - wit, charm, even humour, if you may - to keep audiences adequately engaged, once you've drawn them in. God knows, Akshay Kumar has championed this space for a while (Airlift, Baby, etc). The hero here has little to show for. The writers haven't bothered enough either.

Absolutely the only aspect that works for the film then is the storyline. Which, as per claims, is based on true events. Since that involves the country's spy agency - there is no way for us to verify any of it. Besides, what we do know - as any Google search will reveal - is an Indian Airlines passenger plane, Ganga, that was hijacked in January 1971.

This is recorded as the first such hijacking case. The original target was meant to be the Indian Prime Minister's son, Rajiv Gandhi, an IA pilot then. That didn't occur. But the plane that landed in Lahore, instead of Jammu, from Srinagar, had hijackers demanding the release of 36 terrorists, linked to Kashmir, lodged in Indian jails. The main guy was a 16-year-old. Bizarrely, the weapon used was a frickin' toy gun!

What's the catch? Again, basic Internet scrolling suggests this entire drama was staged by RAW - not IB (headed here by an all-powerful Anupam Kher's character). Net result: India could legally close down its air-spaces, preventing any aerial attack by Pakistan.

What you see in the film is a Chinese-Pakistani operation to fly fighter planes across the Indian mainland to wrest control of the North-East. Only an expert or eye-witness can vet the facts. But that's not why we watch fictionalised films, anyway.

Or why I did. Oh, why did I? Chiefly for the film's young director from Hyderabad, Sankalp, the guy to watch out for, ever since his debut, Ghazi Attack (2017; starring Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon). That was literally an immersive experience, inside submarines - surveying a blind battle, between Indian and Pakistani ships, similarly set in the 1971 War.

IB 71, in terms of a wholly outdoor canvas, mostly Kashmir, is the opposite of Ghazi Attack. To be fair, there are a few filmmaking flourishes. Consider the motor-boat chase sequence in what's likely to be Dal Lake. Or scenes involving the little, hijacker boy - Vishal Jethwa; from Mardaani 2, looks a bit like a young Uday Chopra - visiting a local cinema to exchange notes with his militant partners.

At the other end are, of course, the Pakistani Army blokes with zero backstory - introduced to us as slight nincompoops, going "khush khabri", because "according to one report", India is incapable of resisting Pak attack.

Also Read: 'Afwaah' movie review: Waah AF!

Frankly, when the enemy seems so dumb, what's the pleasure to derive from defeating it! Meghna Gulzar's Raazi (2018) is a case in point for a picture, where you suitably feel something for the other side as well.

Mercifully, they don't seem as dumb (in the movie), by the end of it. Even as everything takes place before their eyes, and they're literally groping in the dark, what with the lights that conveniently go off, when they must.

Eventually, the film descends into the usual Indo-Pak movie, from India, with shots of mosques for Pakistan, where men go, "Janab, Janab, Janab…" There is the sepia tone to suggest a period pic. And planes landing, and taking off.

So, what do you even say? How do you tell one from the other? Let's see: IB 71 > bozo-like Bhuj (2021). Hardly as entertaining as Bell Bottom (2021). Basically, ‘dekhi hui hai'; as the French write, déjà vu. Better still - slightly pakau Pak pic, phir se, in Hinglish.