Excel Entertainment, Talisman Films and Dreamzkrraft Entertainment’s Ground Zero (UA) is based on the true-life story of Border Security Force (BSF) officer Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey who led the operation in which dreaded terrorist Rana Tahir Nadeem, also known as Ghazi Baba, was killed in 2003 in Kashmir. The story is based on real incidents leading up to BSF cop Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey leading a skeletal team to eliminate the dangerous Ghazi Baba who masterminded an attack on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Dubey had been suspended from duty by his senior, Sharma (Mukesh Tiwari), but he requested to be allowed to rejoin because it was the question of the PM’s security in Kashmir. This was the time when PM Vajpayee went to Kashmir and Ghazi Baba tried to kill him but he escaped unhurt.
Sanchit Gupta and Priyadarshee Srivastava have written a story which doesn’t connect much with the viewers, like a heartfelt human drama should. The duo’s screenplay gets into detailed incidents leading up to the final confrontation between Dubey and Ghazi Baba, but nowhere does the drama shake the audience emotionally or engage them enough for them to feel invested in it. Consequently, the viewers watch the proceedings unfold on the screen, without feeling for daredevil Dubey. Althouth the writers have shown scenes of Dubey’s interaction with his family members, not a single scene tugs at the heart strings. That is the biggest weakness of the screenplay because if the viewers are not going to feel empathy towards the protagonist, the human drama will fail to evoke the sympathy it ought to. Another weakness of the screenplay is that it doesn’t quite inspire feelings of patriotism in the audience to the extent it should’ve. Even clap-trap scenes are conspicuous by their absence. The antagonist is not shown for a good part of the drama, which reduces the impact of his terror. This is another minus point of the screenplay. Sanchit Gupta and Priyadarshee Srivastava’s dialogues, with additional dialogues by Chiranjeevi Bajpai, are not half as good and punch-packed as they should’ve been.
Emraan Hashmi delivers a sincere performance as BSF officer Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey. But the fire one would associate with a daredevil officer like him doesn’t come through. Sai Tamhankar doesn’t get any scope as Dubey’s wife. Zoya Hussain is average as Aadila. Mukesh Tiwari lends fair support as Sharma. Deepak Paramesh is good as Binu but he should’ve been given more substantive scenes. Lalit Prabhakar has his moments as Praveen but, again, he too doesn’t get much scope. Guneet Singh (as Inder) is quite nice in a role that gives him limited scope. Rockey Raina is so-so as Ghazi Baba. A more solid antagonist was the need of the drama. Rahul Vohra is okay as Dhyaan. Ekluvya is alright as Chand Khan. Qazi Faiz is natural as Hakim. Hanan has screen presence in the role of Ahmed. Mir Mehrooz is adequate as Husain. Punit Tiwari is so-so as Tariq Malik. Aryan is ordinary as Nikhil. Veda Agrawal is cute as Nishu. Imran Farooq (as ACP Hamid), Syed Aquib Shah (as Ansar), Krishna Sharma (as Rishi), Ram Avtar (as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee), Dheeraj Lalotra (as jawan Amanpreet), Amit Kumar Ghosh (as jawan Ghosh), Satya (as Ranjan), Khushboo (as Husain’s little sister, Hoori), Sheikh Neelofar (as Husain’s mother), Tarun Dang (as Muhabbat Hotel receptionist), Qasim Mir (as Ghazi Baba’s son) and the others lend ordinary support.
Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar’s direction is fair. His technical aspects are nice but he has not been able to make a moving human drama which can touch the heart. Music (Tanishk Bagchi for So lene de and Lahoo; Rohan Rohan for Pehli dafa; Sunny Inder for Fateh) is melodious. Lyrics (Vayu for So lene de; Rashmi Virag for Lahoo; Irshad Kamil for Pehli dafa; Kumaar for Fateh) are weighty. John Stewart Eduri’s background music is reasonably nice. Kamaljeet Negi’s camerawork is splendid. Vikram Dahiya’s action and stunt scenes are thrilling. Production designing (by Shashank Tere) and art direction (by Pravin Pradeep Tambe and Tejas Ajit Korgaonkar) are of a good standard. Chandrashekhar Prajapati’s editing is fairly sharp but should’ve been crisper.
On the whole, Ground Zero is a very ordinary fare. Its biggest plus points are its controlled budget and its topicality in view of the terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Kashmir earlier this week. But a human drama about our country, which leaves the audience unconcerned and without empathy for the protagonist, can seldom have a chance to work at the ticket windows.
Released on 25-4-’25 at Inox (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: so-so. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark at most of the places.
