‘Parmanu – The Story Of Pokhran’ is based on the nuclear test conducted in Pokhran (1998). The true incident mostly keeps the audience’s interest alive throughout the film. Although John Abraham has a limited range, he acted quite well and was rightly supported by Boman Irani. At places, the film creates some form of curiosity as to how the mission would be accomplished. It contains good production values in regards to locations, photography and costumes. Footages of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Bill Clinton, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Shariff definitely give authenticity to the drama. Director Abhishek Sharma, handled the drama reasonably well. However, he has taken too much cinematic liberty at places. Five officers who were named after the Pandavas, hardly made any significant contributions in the execution of the plot. The screenplay could have been better. It makes the viewer lose interest at places and the pace too slows down post-interval. On a lighter note, the editing could’ve been sharper. The dialogues are functional. In such scripts, they should have been packed with a much more patriotic punch. One feels that the thrill in the drama is completely missing and the film actually fails to connect emotionally with the audience. Barring John Abraham and Boman Irani, hardly any actors stand out. Diana Penty doesn’t look convincing and has an insignificant role. The characters of all the secondary artists are not developed properly. Sachin-Jigar fail to deliver a single hit number. It is strictly a one-time watch.
Rating: 2.5/5