Pranay Meshram’s debut Akelli, starring Nushrratt Bharuccha in the lead role, is an intense dramatic thriller. The story is based on an Indian woman stuck in Iraq where a violent conflict breaks out between the Iraqi army and ISIS. What follows next is how she tries to bravely fight her situation and find the courage to escape. But with movies like Airlift and Tiger that are also based on getting Indians out of war zones, does Pranay’s story leave the same impact? Read our review of Akelli before you decide to hit the cinemas.

A story of courage that lacks tension

Jyoti, an ordinary girl from Punjab, loses her job and is trying to find a new one to look after her family. She is the sole earner in the family of three–she, her mother, and her orphaned niece. So, when the opportunity arises for a job in Iraq, Jyoti goes against all her instincts and takes it. Knowing fully well that her mother won’t approve of her new job in a war zone, Jyoti lies to her and moves out.

While she was assured by her agent that all is well in Iraq, things start off on a rather shaky note as they are stopped on the way when a girl is blown up by a bomb. And Jyoti is shaken to the core by this rather violent welcome to the country. But soon, things become smoother and she develops a good bond with her charming manager Rafiq (Nishant Dahiya). The pieces of her life start falling into place and she keeps sending money consistently to look after her family. But that doesn’t last long as ISIS takes over the country and takes all non-Sunnis into captivity. Jyoti and her female co-workers are made sex slaves of the terrorists and are tortured physically and mentally. However, through this ordeal, you won’t tense up or feel any anxiety as a viewer.

The plausibility of sequences is a little questionable

When Jyoti finally finds her courage and tries to escape, the sequences that follow will make you question the logic and plausibility of the story. Jyoti keeps the leader of the group Assad (Tsahi Halevi) at gunpoint and then keeps making narrow escapes that usually wouldn’t happen. She even hides in the tyre compartment of a thoroughly checked plane and travels all the way to Baghdad, up there in the open at an unimaginable height.

So while the movie is intense and dramatic, at certain points, it feels overstretched and unreasonable. But kudos to Nushrratt Bharuccha for carrying the whole movie on her shoulders. She is mostly convincing and does a good job in grave scenes where she is being sexually assaulted and meets other young girls who’ve faced the same fate. But even then, the story writing could have been crisper and the run time could have been reduced.

Akelli is now running in cinemas near you.

Can you watch it with your family?: Akelli has some sensitive scenes, but otherwise, you can watch it with your family.

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