''Aiyaary'' ( or trickery) is a 2018 Indian

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

-language

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written and directed by

Neeraj Pandey Neeraj Pandey (born 17 December 1973) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. Pandey was made his directoral debut in ''A Wednesday!'', which was largely praised by critics and which later became a recip ...

. Produced by Shital Bhatia, Dhaval Gada & Motion Picture Capital and distributed by

Reliance Entertainment Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd is an Indian media and entertainment company. It is a division of Reliance Group, handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms. The company was founded on 15 February 20 ...

Plan C Studios Plan C Studios is an Indian motion picture production company founded as an alliance between Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment and Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia’s Friday Filmworks. It is the result of a 50:50 joint venture between th ...

Friday Filmworks Friday Filmworks is an Indian motion picture production company founded by Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia in 2008. Set up in 2008, Friday Filmworks has produced trend-setting films that are original in content and entertaining to the audienc ...

Pen India Limited Pen Studios (formerly Pen India Limited) is an Cinema of India, Indian film production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company established by Dr. Jayantilal Gada on 31 March 1987. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and d ...

. The film features

Sidharth Malhotra Sidharth Malhotra (; born 16 January 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He began his career as a fashion model, but left it to pursue an acting career. He made his acting debut with a minor role in the television serial ''Dhart ...

Manoj Bajpayee Manoj Bajpayee (born 23 April 1969), also transliterated as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema and has also done Telugu and Tamil language films. Regarded as one of the finest actors of Hindi cinema, he i ...

Rakul Preet Singh Rakul Preet Singh (born 10 October 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. She made her acting debut with the Kannada film '' Gilli'' (2009). She has won several awards including a SIIMA Award with ...

Pooja Chopra Pooja Chopra is an Indian actress. She won the title of Femina Miss India World 2009. She is the first Indian to win the "Beauty with a Purpose" title at the Miss World competition for India. As an actress, Chopra was awarded the Times Most Po ...

Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and '' Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He re ...

Kumud Mishra Kumud Mishra is an Indian actor in Hindi cinema. He mainly plays supporting roles in movies, television series, and web series but has also played lead roles in some of them. Career He played Eknath, a trade union leader in the 1995 Doordars ...

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare A ...

and Anupam Kher. Inspired by the

Adarsh Housing society scam The Adarsh Housing Society is a 31-story building constructed on prime real estate in Colaba, Mumbai, for the welfare of war widows and personnel of India's Ministry of Defence. Over a period of several years, politicians, bureaucrats and milit ...

, the film's narrative centers around the relation between a colonel and his protege that gets affected when the latter becomes disillusioned upon overhearing a conversation and goes rogue with sensitive data related to his covert organization, prompting the colonel to race against time and hunt him down. After having its release date rescheduled from 26 January to 9 February to yet another week, it was released on 16 February 2018.

Plot

During a surveillance in

South Block The Secretariat Building or Central Secretariat is where the Cabinet Secretariat is housed, which administers the Government of India. Built in the 1910s, it is home to some of the most important ministries of the Cabinet of India. Situated at ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, Major Jai Bakshi (

) overhears a conversation between Retired Lt. Gen Gurinder Singh (

), an Indian Arms Lobby representative and the Army Chief Pratap Malik (

Vikram Gokhale Vikram Gokhale (14 November 1945 – 26 November 2022) was an Indian film, television and stage actor, noted for his roles in Marathi theatre, Hindi films and television. He was the son of the Veteran Marathi theater and film actor, Chandrakant ...

). Gurinder tries to bribe him on behalf of a Czech firm, but threatens to expose the DSD (Data & Systems Diagnostics), a confidential operations unit which Jai is a part of, when Malik doesn't comply. Suspecting a major scam in the army, Jai continues with the surveillance for 2 months before going rogue with his cyber-expert girlfriend Sonia (

), taking along some information related to his organization. Colonel Abhay Singh (

), Jai's mentor, learns of this and decides to pursue Jai while he's himself pursued secretly by Officer Brig. Srinivas (

Rajesh Tailang Rajesh Tailang is an Indian actor. He is best known to international audiences for his role in '' Siddharth'', for which he garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards.Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and '' Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He re ...

), Abhay finds his car pursued and manages to escape while the pursuers sent by Srinivas keep following the car. The DSD shifts their location to an undisclosed location, and Gurinder enlists the help of a journalist named Kamya and provides her sensitive information that can expose the army's secrets. Abhay flies to London, and so does a disguised Jai who is picked up by Sonia upon his arrival. In London, Jai manages to frighten Gurinder into transferring all his money into Jai's account while Abhay meets Tariq, a middle man for Intelligence agents, who arranges guns and tries to locate Jai and Sonia, eventually alerting Jai. A desperate Abhay meets Mukesh and tells him his agents have captured Gurinder. He makes a deal with him, telling him to kill Jai and Sonia in exchange for the information he possesses as it threatens both the parties. While Jai is en route to meet an MI-6 agent to sell him the information, Mukesh's sniper tries to kill him. A few agents are killed, and Jai is wounded, but manages to escape. Abhay picks up Sonia and calls Jai from her phone, telling him to come at a spot. Jai arrives, but is repeatedly punched by Abhay, who then holds him on gunpoint while Jai justifies his actions and questions what the elder generation plans to leave for the present one. This makes Abhay agree with him, and Jai tells Mukesh to free Tariq in exchange for all the information Jai would personally deliver to him. Abhay heads back to India, disguised, where he follows Jai's instructions and meets Baburao (

), an old man who reveals about an army housing scam in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, involving Gurinder and the Defence Minister. Abhay records his statement and hands it over to Kamya, his ex-girlfriend, who decides to play it after listening to Baburao's words. Gurinder, rescued by Srinivas after capturing DSD agents, receives the same audio recording and shoots himself after listening to it. The housing scam is exposed, due to which Srinivas is forced to free the captured DSD agents. The Indian Army and DSD's reputation is saved, while Jai goes to meet Mukesh. Right before entering the building, as he is being watched by Mukesh's agent, Jai decides not to hand over the information and disappears as a bus passes. Mukesh decides to let go, while Jai reunites with Abhay after 2 months.

Cast

as Lieutenant Major Jai Bakshi / Abhimanyu Singh *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Abhay Singh *

as Sonia Gupta *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Maya Semwal *

as Retd.

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Mukesh Kapoor *

as Retd.

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Gurinder Singh *

as Baburao Shastri * Anupam Kher as Tariq Ali *

Nivedita Bhattacharya Nivedita Bhattacharya (born 21 July 1970) is an Indian actress. She was born in Lucknow. She is an actress who has acted on television and in films. Filmography * ''Kya Kehna'' (2000) - Preity Zinta's sister-in-law * '' Darr @ the Mall'' (2 ...

as Kamya *

Kali Prasad Mukherjee Kali Prasad Mukherjee (born 20 November 1966) is an Indian film and television actor who is best known for playing supporting roles in Bollywood films and Indian soap opera Indian television drama (in Indian English Indian serials) are tel ...

as Bhima *

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Pratap Malik, Chief of the Army Staff *

Rajesh Tailang Rajesh Tailang is an Indian actor. He is best known to international audiences for his role in '' Siddharth'', for which he garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards.Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

K. Srinivas *

Juhi Babbar Juhi Babbar is an Indian film and television actress. She has also contributed to theatre both as an actor and director. She is the daughter of famous Bollywood actor Raj Babbar and the second wife of Indian TV actor and anchor Anup Soni. Pers ...

as the wife of Colonel Abhay Singh * Maan Praveen Sirohi as

Aubin Mathew *

Patrick Clarke Patrick Clarke is an Irish writer, director, producer and actor. Clarke co-wrote and produced his first feature '' Beyond the Pale'' in 1999. Based on actual events, the immigrant drama was a commercial success in Ireland, Australia and the U ...

as Roger

Production

The film was announced in April 2017. It was shot in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, Cairo, Agra and more. Some of its scenes were also shot in the premises of Galgotias Campus One. ''Aiyaary'' is directed by

Music

The music of the film is composed by

Rochak Kohli Rochak Kohli is an Indian music director for Bollywood films. He made his music debut in Shoojit Sircar's romantic comedy ''Vicky Donor'' with ''Pani Da Rang''. The song was made in collaboration with Ayushmann Khurrana, the lead of the film. ...

and

Ankit Tiwari Ankit Tiwari is an Indian playback singer, live perfomer ,music director, composer. His career began upon meeting Pradeep Sarkar where he got a chance to work on jingles and started composing background music for television programmes. Subsequ ...

while lyrics are penned by

Manoj Muntashir Manoj Shukla (born 27 February 1976), better known by his stage name Manoj Shukla ‛Muntashir’, is an Indian lyricist, poet and screenwriter. He wrote several successful Hindi songs for films. These have included "Teri Mitti", "Galliyan", "Te ...

. The background score is composed by

Sanjoy Chowdhury Sanjoy Chowdhury is an Indian film score composer. He debuted in 1998, by composing the background score of the Malayalam movie, ''Ennu Swantham Janakikutty''. Shortly afterwards, filmmaker John Matthew Matthan roped him in to compose the backgrou ...

. The songs are sung by

Sunidhi Chauhan Sunidhi Chauhan (pronounced ; born 14 August 1983) is an Indian playback singer. Born in Delhi, she began performing in local gatherings at the age of 5 and made her career debut at the age of 13, with the film ''Shastra'' (1996). During the ye ...

Palak Muchhal Palak Muchhal (born 30 March 1992) is an Indian singer and lyricist from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She and her younger brother Palash Muchhal perform stage shows across India and abroad to raise funds for the poor children who need financial as ...

Amit Mishra Amit Mishra (born 24 November 1982) is an Indian cricketer. He is an right-arm leg-break bowler and right-handed tail-ender batsman. He plays for Haryana in the domestic Ranji Trophy and currently appears for the T20 franchise Delhi Capitals ...

Neha Bhasin Neha Bhasin (born 18 November 1982) is an Indian singer and songwriter. She is known for her playback work in Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood and independent songs in the genre of Indian pop and punjabi folk music. Bhasin has received seven Fi ...

and

. The first song of the film, ''Lae Dooba'', which is sung by

, was released on 29 December 2017. The second track of the film, ''Yaad Hai'', which is sung by

and

, was released on 17 January 2018. The third track of the film to be released was ''Shuru Kar'' which is sung by

and

and was released on 25 January 2018. The music album of the film includes 4 tracks and was released on 1 February 2018 at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Zee Music Company Zee Music Co. (ZMC) is an Indian music company, a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. It carries its business activities mainly from New Delhi. The company has captured a major chunk of market share in Bollywood music in a short ...

Release

Theatrical

The film was originally scheduled to be released on 26 January 2018, but this was moved in order to avoid a clash with

Padmaavat ''Padmaavat'' is a 2018 Indian period romantic action drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Based on the epic poem of the same name by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, it stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, a Rajput queen known for ...

. The film was then scheduled to be released worldwide on 9 February 2018 but was later postponed to 16 February 2018.

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

by Reliance Home Video & Games. The satellite rights were secured by

Star Gold Disney Star Private Limited is an Indian media conglomerate and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Disney Star network runs more than 70 TV channels in eight languages, reac ...

while the digital streaming rights went over to

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

, where the film was released uncensored.

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds a ''rotten'' score of based on reviews with an average rating of . Alaka Sahani of ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' gave the film a rating of 2.5 stars out of 5 and said that "Even though the movie puts together an impressive ensemble cast comprising some of our best actors, it takes a lot of time to establish their characters. A veteran in

movies,

carries the film on his shoulders."

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides ...

gave the film a rating of 2 stars out of 5 and wrote "On the whole, AIYAARY misses the mark and is a huge letdown on the account of its flawed script and the lengthy runtime. At the box office, it will be a disappointing fare." Saibal Chatterjee of

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

criticized the film, saying that, "Aiyaary, comatose and convoluted, is like a patient who's been wheeled in on a stretcher and declared dead on arrival. It never manages to get up on its feet and break into a saunter, let alone a sprint." and gave the film a rating of 1.5 stars out of 5. Rohit Vats of ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'' gave the film a rating of 1 star out of 5 and said that, "Aiyaary is sketchily-written and not compelling. It tests patience even if you are a fan of the genre." Shrishti Negi of

News 18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...

gave the film a rating of 1.5 stars out of 5 and said that, "Unlike Pandey's other films, there is a nonsense of flatness in Aiyaary. Apart from a few scenes, the movie seems to be randomly constructed and fails to evoke any thrill."

References

External links

* * {{Neeraj Pandey 2018 films 2010s Hindi-language films 2018 action thriller films 2010s chase films Indian action thriller films Indian chase films Indian Army in films Films shot in Delhi Films shot in London Films shot in Jammu and Kashmir Films shot in Egypt Reliance Entertainment films Films about corruption in India Films directed by Neeraj Pandey Films scored by Sanjoy Chowdhury