Siddharth Malhotra's last patriotic movie cemented his feet in the acting industry as an able actor. He proved his mettle for his craft splendidly. Perhaps he hoped for a repeat success. But the tried and tested formula of patriotic movies working does not always succeed. Mission Majnu is about Amandeep Singh, a dedicated and highly efficient agent of India's RAW, who has been living in Rawalpindi of Pakistan, undercover as Tariq. Tariq works as a tailor and soon falls in love with his employer's niece, Nasreen. Nasreen was unfortunately born blind. But the movie does not waste too much time building up to a romantic climax. Within the first 10 minutes, they get married and are expecting their first child together. In the 1970s, after India carries out successful nuclear weapons testing, Pakistan also plans to do the same. Though at international platforms, Pakistan openly and vehemently condemns India for the act, secretly the country recruits top scientists to build a nuclear facility to carry out the testing. Thus, it becomes Tariq's job to get the location and the people involved and give the information back to RAW. But Tariq is not the only agent planted in Pakistan. Kumud Sharma and Sharib Hashmi, along with Siddharth form a charming trio, going about, collecting information from unwitting Pakistanis. Because it is truly mind-boggling, how easily everyone just doles out top-secret military info to mere tailors. It is almost comical. The plot is filled with loopholes and does a shoddy job of trying to tell the story of these unsung heroes. Even after earnest performances from its cast, the story-writing does a great disservice to the tale of these spies. By the time Sonu Nigam's heart-wrenching ballad rolls in, it is more of a wake-up alarm than a hair-rousing moment in the movie. Some of the best moments of the movie have Rashmika and Siddharth in them. Their chemistry as the cute husband and wife is endearing and memorable. Mission Majnu does patriotism right. The war fought is not violent, but a battle of wit and relentless courage. It may not be a Shershah or a Raazi, nevertheless, it is about a spy who spent his life for the country, and it deserves to be watched.
By SB
