Romeo Akbar Walter

Toss a coin; do you want new Ra(w) or not-so-new Ra(azi!)

These stories deserve the spotlight more than ever before, given the tinderbox India is sitting on currently after the Pulwama attack. But RAW chooses to tell the other, more populist side of the story. Though that is completely the makers' choice, one wishes they would have not given up on nuance while translating the popular sentiment into a half-baked spy thriller.

The silver lining is that with a relatively more serious No Fathers in Kashmir as the only other release in theatres combined with the mood of the nation veering towards the patriotic, RAW, despite its flaws, could well have a smooth run.

John Abraham is sincere but is handicapped by his poorly-etched character. Mouni Roy and Alka Amin, as his girlfriend and mother, respectively, have nothing to do. Yadav is alright, and so is Anil George as Afridi. Two actors who act competently but are wasted after a long gap are Suchitra Krishnamoorthy as Rehana Kazmi, an Indian journalist, and Shaadab Amjad Khan as Afridi's son. Sikandar Kher is just okay, his performance clichéd and on the borderline of hamming. The others just fit the bill. The film, sadly, does not.

The movie appears 'raw' at many instances and one only wishes that it was cooked better. Robbie tries hard to make RAW like Raazi, but doesn't quite get it.

Romeo Akbar Walter is a contrived espionage drama. At one stage, the film appears to be a documentary telling us about the birth of Bangladesh

...fails to impress as it suffers from a flawed script as well as a weak and lengthy execution. At the box office, it will have an uphill task to register impressive numbers.

While the story does lack an intellectual plot to make this intriguing enough, John Abraham carries the film on his shoulders.

RAW never really examines its main character's obvious identity crisis and his conflict of faith – partly due to the actor's limited abilities, but mostly due to the mood of our times

Romeo Akbar Walter, starring John Abraham and Mouni Roy, fails to deliver. Instead, Robbie Grewal's directorial debut looks like a paler cousin of Meghna Gulzar's Raazi.

All said and done, Romeo Akbar Walter could have been a lot better than what it is now. The paper-thin plot, pretending to be a lot intelligent than what it is backed by a very lousy narration. Don't fall for the patriotic trap!

A bank cashier is recruited to spy for India, with several reasons to double cross. What could have been an action packed drama seems to be caught in a quagmire of stereotypes and predictability. It is so slow it fails to hold your attention despite a good premise.

RAW could have had an interesting story line but Robbie Grewal's overambitious route leads to the downfall of RAW. Patriotism is overused to compensate for what we will call bland storytelling.

Given the twists and turns, John Abraham starrer Romeo Akbar Walter comes across as a convoluted and tedious mess