Film: Tehran
U/A: Action, thriller
On: Zee 5
Director: Arun Gopalan
Cast: John Abraham, Neeru Bajwa, Manushi Chhillar, Hadi Khanjanpour
Rating: 3/5

I don’t think films can — or should — be viewed devoid of their politics. That’s why it’s so rare to find an actioner that doesn’t surrender to an agenda and instead stays loyal to the story. Tehran is that rare film — engaging and smart — without the hollow pretence of neutrality or the cheap intention of inciting hatred. In a climate where most spy films have buried themselves in agenda-driven storytelling, watching one play it straight feels like a relief. The second respite is that it’s not made as an anti-Pakistan propaganda fare, fiven the state of affairs now!

Under its anti-terrorism cloak, the John Abraham-starrer focuses on the grind of espionage. This isn’t a hollow spy franchise, glossed with slick action, chases, and shootouts. Everything here is anchored in a plot that makes you care.

Director Arun Gopalan, along with writers Ashish P Verma, Bindni Karia, and Ritesh Shah, presents ACP Rajiv Kumar (Abraham), a solid officer with the Delhi Police’s Special Cell. When a car bomb tears through New Delhi in 2012, killing a young girl about the same age as his daughter — an Indian child with no connection to the long-running Israel-Iran hostility — Rajiv’s routine assignment becomes personal. Determined to stop terrorists from using India as their playground, he vows to “cut off their hands”.