John Abraham: He plays the effective & powerful role of Ashwat Raina. He delivers an earnest performance & is fine in any group scene, but fails to deliver above the basic, solely.

Diana Penty: She as Ambalika Bandhopadhyay, the security in-charge being virtually in the middle of every scene, even fails in evoking any emotion.

Boman Irani: His role as Himanshu Shukla, the Secretary to the Indian PM, does a decent job.

Anuja Sathe: She plays the role of John’s wife bringing in the right dose of drama.

Yogendra Tiku: He brings in the much needed comic relief as the DRDO’S Dr Naresh Sinha.

Story: In 1995, an IAS officer Ashwath Raina, proposes that India start conducting the nuclear tests themselves to stay ahead of Pakistan & China. When the 1st test becomes a failure under America’s pressure, he gets a 2nd opportunity in 1998 under the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s new reign.

Cinematography: Striking

Screenplay: Fanciful

Direction: In a traditional Bollywood picturization the director, Abhishek Sharma glorifies patriotism in an otherwise true event marking nuclear explosion.

PARMANU (2018): The movie takes too much liberty with the main theme which is “based on true events” during the late 90’s. The film revolves around the main theme of the Rajasthan’s Pokhran Tests Range & the events that culminate in various nuclear bomb explosions.

Review by Shreya Ghosh