At a crucial moment in Spy, the latest Telugu thriller aiming to capture nationwide attention by releasing in multiple languages, a character declares, “I have no problem with the ones who got the credit, I have a problem with the ones who didn’t.” He says this in reference to Subhas Chandra Bose being a relatively unsung hero as opposed to Nehru and Gandhi. Spy, headlined by Nikhil Siddhartha, with its story by K. Rajashekhar Reddy who has also produced the film, tries to merge a personal story of loss with that of Subhas Chandra Bose’s life and explores what could happen if secret files fall into the wrong hands.
The premise is intriguing. But what we get is a patchy attempt at a thriller that is far from innovative in its technical treatment as well as writing and narration. Spy opens with incidents that happen in Jordan, then New York and Israel to drive home the point that a terrorist named Kadir Khan, who the Indian RAW agents consider has been killed, resurfaces. Meanwhile, Jai (Nikhil Siddhartha), who has lost his brother Subhash (Aryan Rajesh) on this terrorist mission, is keen to know the truth.
