Parmanu review: Walk in to have a BLAST with John Abraham!

Movie: Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran

Cast: John Abraham, Diana Penty, Boman Irani, Arush Nand, Zachary Coffin, Mark Bennington

Director: Abhishek Sharma

Producers: JA Entertainment, Kyta Productions

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran is a celebration of the bravery, valor and above all, the sheer love for the nation that we all consider ourselves blessed to be the residents of. The film, which tells one of the lesser told but definitely the most intriguing stories from the history of our nation, hits the screens today!

So, should you be watching it? Read on to find out!

Ashwat Raina (Abraham) is an upright civil servant who is determined to turn India into a nuclear power amidst growing geo political tensions and the stern watchful eye of the Americans, who have enough apparatus in place in space to keep an eye on all the practices of their neighbouring nations. This very eye lands the concerned officials in the Indian subcontinent in trouble at the time of their first and under-thought attempt at doing so. This leads to immediate suspension and disruption in the family life of Abraham’s character. But, fate gives him a second chance as he gets commissioned to fulfil his dream; being of service to his nation by helping it emerge as a nuclear power.

Diving into greater details of the film might ruin the fun for everyone, so let’s get down to our analysis of it.

It’s leading man, Abraham, has powered the first half with his machismo avatar coupled with his boy next door looks, but admittedly, it wasn’t enough initially to be entirely invested in the perils of Ashwat, which could have been taken care of had he shown a little bit of vulnerability. Boman Irani, on the other hand, was clearly a standout with his one-of-a-kind nuanced performance. To us, personally, the man did not lose a beat at any given point, and neither did Anuja Sathe, whose expressions felt like they came straight from the heart. Her reactiveness to each and every situation was simply unparalleled.

One thing that caught our eye was the way in which the makers incorporated the analogy of Mahabharata into it all and how each and every aspect of epic was utilised throughout the story with consistency.

But, what makes this film join the league of outliers is its second half, where the screenplay allows the use of grander scenery and infuses into the story the sense of urgency and the pace we were longing for. Here, John significantly ups his acting game and how! From not feeling an iota of emotion in the first half we observed ourselves ending up smiling with Akshat during his moments of triumphs to shedding a couple of teardrops when things were not going so well for him, and that’s when we realized the real reason behind why we and millions of others adore him.

Also, its leading lady, Diana Penty has delivered one of her finest performances to date as she has made the best of the screen time that she had in this thrilling drama. However, we would have appreciated if she had been given more of the same in this story.

Given the intensity of the subject at hand, one could always do with a little bit of a comic relief, of which there are a handful in Parmanu. But, they are few and pretty much at a distance from each other and rightly so! Some comic moments, intentionally or otherwise, will remind you of director Abhishek Sharma’s The Shaukeens, which we personally didn’t really mind. A majority of the comedy takes place in the control room during the banter that takes place between the teammates that have been assembled by Abraham’s Akshat, who has aptly been christened as the Krishna to his Pandavas.

The climax of the film was met with claps and whistles, which we believe is going to be a common phenomenon across all cinema halls from today onwards. But, we would like to say that a few subplots in the first half could have been done away with and maybe a little bit of coherence could have been added in the second.

All in all, Parmanu is a gripping and fascinating watch that will enlighten the audience about one of the most intriguing chapters in the Indian history that was needed to be told.

A film like Parmanu deserves your time and attention, so much so that even considering a loo break will feel like a criminal act.