As if Coronavirus was not enough, there’s a new deadly virus making its presence felt along the Indo-China border. Luckily, the Head of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Uma Kulkarni (Mouni Roy) gets a whiff of it in time and now a whistle-blower from China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) is ready to expose its own government in an upcoming virology conference in the UK.
But, thanks to a mole in the Indian Intelligence team, undercover agent Biren Ghosh has gone missing just a week before the summit and the MSS is leaving no stone unturned to cover its tracks. Will Uma’s team – comprising Arjun (Purab Kohli), M and herself – be able to figure out who the real culprit is? And, if yes, then will they be able to prove that the contagious virus is indeed a brainchild of the Republic of China?
Directed by Kanwal Sethi and written by noted author Hussain Zaidi, ‘London Confidential’ revolves around the topical issue of lab-manufactured viruses and the country’s strain relations with neighbouring China. While the subject maybe hot, its execution is not.
STORY LINEAnother virus is spreading at an alarming rate near the Indo-China border and inside intel suggests that China has masterminded it. The Indian Ambassador to UK Nirupama Datta (Kulraj Randhawa) is under immense pressure to keep the news under wraps lest UK’s M16 gets involved.
On the other hand, the Indian Intelligence has put one of its finest to work. The big revelation is just seven days away and the direct link to a crucial piece of evidence has suddenly disappeared. What’s in store for the Indian government, and the whole world in general?
With Coronavirus wreaking havoc in our lives since the beginning of this year, we cannot stress enough on the timeliness of ‘London Confidential’ but right from the first frame till its very end, the story doesn’t add up.
For one, the movie is set in the middle of a global pandemic, and yet, after a few initial shots hinting towards ‘staying home and staying safe’, we see all the actors going about their daily chores without even following the basic directives – no masks, no social distancing (there is a lot of not-so-discreet adultery in it) and definitely no working remotely.
As RAW agents, one would expect the characters to be street smart and highly suspicious of the people they come in contact with. Well, street smart they are, suspicious they are not. The Head of Intelligence Uma trusts too easily (that being her catch phrase) while others talk in lame supermarket metaphors or childish sexual innuendos.
Talking about sex, honey-trapping is the hot favourite subtext of ‘London Confidential’ and even after years of working in different parts of the world, some of these diplomats haven’t learned a thing or two about keeping 'it' in control. Strange!
‘London Confidential’ was supposed to be a top security mission gone wrong but there are way too many loose ends and the counter-espionage seems like a scratch-on-the-surface with bland and predictable twists and turns. Nothing confidential about it!
