Leaves much desired but still a good attempt

Rating: 7/10 (11 April 2019)

Impressive:
1. Someone tried to create a movie that makes some sense technically and professionally, especially, when it comes to military movies
2. By Bollywood standards, minimal 'masala' and other nonsense
3. Vicky Kaushal has made a sincere attempt to portray the character
4. Nowhere I felt that the movie is getting dragged
5. Fair footage is given to R&AW, especially, the depiction of 'deep assets'. DRDO & ISRO normally aren't even mentioned in the already rare Indian military movies(exceptions like 'Parmanu'), this movie has overcome that fallacy
6. The arrangement of the story in chapters is a clear way of presentation
7. I was apprehensive about 'Border'-like surreal battle scenes but phew! Snipers watching back of the assault teams, a sniper using a soldier's shoulder to base his rifle to take out the enemy, a soldier kicking down his mate to save both of them from getting hit by bullets were catching
8. The soundtrack is listenable
Dismal
1. Incessant, loud and misplaced background score. Common! You don't need bells and gongs for every scene!!! I almost lost my patience when the preps for the surgical strike were lost in music/some song
2. While Paresh Rawal is an accomplished actor, his acting as the (possible)NSA was sloppy and unconvincing. There's no other character in the film that makes a mark!
3. While the action sequences are above the Bollywood standards, they fail to impress. The Pak chopper unable to hit any Indian soldiers falling back in the open, the handheld rocket launchers weren't exhibited effectively in the strike scenes, the unnecessary drama of the team leader chasing alone the terrorist lead and risking his own life and his team and so on. What the other teams achieved is left for the viewer to imagine. Such operations always have hiccups and the team needs to improvise within minutes, maybe seconds
4. The IFS and other services who would have played a role in diplomacy, PSYWAR and other political aspects of the strike have no footage
It's definitely a one-time watch.