A Review of Netflix’s Khufiya: The Spy Who Couldn’t Come in from the Cold
Netflix’s latest espionage thriller Khufiya, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, brings the murky world of spies and moles to the screen. Based loosely on former R&AW official Amar Bhushan’s novel Escape to Nowhere, the film follows senior intelligence operative Krishna Mehra (Tabu) as she hunts for a mole within the agency. With strong performances and an emphasis on complex character dynamics, Khufiya offers an intriguing, if uneven, exploration of personal loyalties versus patriotic duties.
Walk the Line Between Duty and Desire
At the film’s start, Krishna, known as KM to her colleagues, has just lost an asset in the field. Eager to make amends and driven by her complicated history with the deceased agent, KM spearheads the mole investigation, codenamed Operation Brutus. Her top suspect is unassuming family man Ravi Mohan (Ali Fazal), whose actions raise flags. As she digs into his background, KM discovers that Ravi may be a double agent, and that his wife Charu (Wamiqa Gabbi) could be complicit.
To track the couple, KM must confront demons from her past. Bhardwaj delicately handles the revelation that KM is closeted, exploring how her sexuality shapes her distant relationship with her son. Her dynamic with deceased Bangladeshi informant Heena Rehman (Azmeri Haque Badhon) also proves enlightening. Their flirtatious bond pushes against the machismo of espionage, and provides insight into KM’s motivations.
Home is Where the Intrigue is
While the thriller elements drive the plot, the film truly sparks when spotlighting the Mohan household. As Ravi, Fazal ably captures the contrast between the character’s unassuming exterior and his secretive interior life. Ravi’s cat-and-mouse game with his surveillers thrills.
Meanwhile, Gabbi shines as Charu, nailing the shift from cheery homemaker to disillusioned partner. The tension in the Mohan home provides some of the film’s most riveting moments. Ravi’s revered mother Lalita (Navnindra Behl) also intrigues, her subtle influence stirring malignant possibilities.
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Uneven Storytelling Undercuts Potential
Despite standout performances, Khufiya is hampered by uneven pacing and gaps in narrative logic. The first half focuses on surveillance, while the second half sends Charu overseas to track her fugitive family. This abrupt six-month time jump feels disjointed. Charu’s transformation into a field operative also strains believability.
While ambitious in scope, Khufiya juggles too many threads, from KM’s sexual exploration to Ravi’s political motivations. Few plot points land with impact. The film works best in its smaller conjectural scenes, particularly those highlighting the female leads.
A Showcase for Tabu
As anticipated, Tabu offers a masterclass in understatement as KM. With minimal dialogue, her facial expressions and posture convey interiority. Tabu occupies the role with intelligence and rigor. Her chemistry with Badhon, in their few scenes together, ignites the screen.
Bhardwaj cultivates an off-kilter ambiance through unconventional music cues and editing. The exotic South Dakota setting provides a fresh backdrop for the cross-cultural intrigue. However, these provocative ingredients never fully coalesce into a satisfying whole. Khufiya offers fleeting moments of brilliance, especially for avid Tabu fans, but remains a mixed bag.
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An Uneasy Cocktail of Tones
Tonally, Khufiya never quite finds its footing. Bhardwaj punctuates scenes of operatic drama with odd bursts of humor, such as a cameo from musician Rahul Ram as a spiritual guru. The motives of the American intelligence officers assisting KM’s case also raise questions, lending an air of satire to the proceedings that jars with the stern espionage plot.
This genre mixing leads to disorienting tonal dissonance. For instance, a tense moment where Ravi confronts Charu about the surveillance on their home gets undercut by a soundtrack reminiscent of a sitcom. These clashing tones diminish the thriller stakes.
Stuck Between Homage and Deconstruction
Stylistically, Bhardwaj seems torn between paying homage to classic espionage films and deconstructing their familiar tropes. Nods to spy classics abound, from tracking shots reminiscent of The Bourne Identity films to a protagonist haunted by past missions gone wrong a la Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Yet these earnest thriller elements sit alongside tongue-in-cheek, meta touches, like characters commenting directly on spy movie clichés. This push and pull between playfulness and sobriety means neither sentiment fully lands. Khufiya often feels like an espionage thriller made by someone not quite convinced by the viability of the genre.
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The Sum of Its Parts
Viewers’ mileage with Khufiya may depend on their affinity for Bhardwaj’s idiosyncratic sensibilities. For fans, his tendency to subvert expectations delivers intrigue. Yet for those desiring a straight spy thriller, the film’s constant twists and tonal shifts may disappoint.
As a complete work, Khufiya struggles to unite its disparate inspirations into a cohesive statement. But on a scene-by-scene basis, the film serves up several excellent performances and visual moments that linger past the credits. Khufiya falls short as a satisfying genre piece, but offers enough flashes of brilliance to please Bhardwaj devotees and patient viewers.
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