Addressing the complexities of spy games

Tehran is an ambitious political thriller film with credible world-building

- Udita Jhunjhunwala

In Tehran (streaming on Zee5), director Arun Gopalan adapts high-stakes geopolitics into a tense espionage drama. The film is rooted in a real incident: the February 2012 bomb attack near the Israeli Embassy in Delhi, part of a coordinated series of assaults on Israeli diplomats in Georgia, Thailand, and India.

Based on a story written by Bindi Karia, with screenplay and dialogue by Karia and Ritesh Shah, the film uses that as the launchpad for a fictional covert mission that spans continents and moral boundaries.

At the heart of the narrative is ACP Rajiv Kumar, known as RK (John Abraham), a Delhi police officer. At the start of the film, RK is focused on bringing down the Makwana gang, which has threatened his family. But after the bombing of the Israeli diplomat's car, RK is assigned to investigate the attack.