Article 370 attempts to tell unknown aspects about one of the most significant historical events in recent times. Director Aditya Suhas Jambhale adopts a no-nonsense approach and it gives the film a nice touch. The makers balance the narrative with not just political drama but also action and thrill. It’s 160 minutes long and there’s a lot happening every minute. Hence, the film never seems stretched or lengthy. The second half has much more entertainment value, especially the climax. On the flipside, the film gets a bit technical and it’s not easy to decipher all aspects depicted in the film. Secondly and most importantly, the film seems too pro-government. The government is never shown at fault or make any mistake. Lastly, though the makers stress that it’s inspired by real events, one wonders if some of the episodes shown in the film actually happened in real life. Speaking of performances, Yami Gautam Dhar hits the ball out of the park. She rocks in the action scenes but watch out for her in the emotional sequences, especially during the monologue. Definitely, her best performance ever! Priya Mani, on the other hand, keeps her act restrained and it works well, as per the character requirement. Vaibhav Tatwawadi (Yash Chauhan) is quite likeable. Raj Arjun (Khawar Ali) and Skand Thakur (Wasim Abbasi) lend able support. Kiran Karmarkar (Home Minister) steals the show and plays to the gallery. Asit Redij (Opposition leader Rohit Thapar) leaves a huge mark. Arun Govil (Prime Minister) tries too hard. Sumit Kaul (Yakub Shaikh), Divya Seth Shah (Parveena Andrabi), Raj Zutshi (Salahuddin Jalal), Rajiv Kumar (Shamsher Abdali) and Irawati Harshe Mayadev (Brinda Kaul) also do well. Shashwat Sachdev‘s background score is kickass and quite catchy. All in all, Article 370 makes for a great watch.
My rating – *** ½ out of 5!