“Attack” Part 1 is a sci-fi action film with a predictable story, subpar writing, and innumerable moments that will make you cringe. One super-soldier against a terrorist group is what “Attack” is all about. Arjun Shergill is an Indian soldier who leads his team to capture the terrorist Rehman Gul. During their attack, he came across a young suicide bomber, whom he helped to deactivate the bomb. After 12 years, the young man whom he allowed to survive comes back into his life and takes away his happiness. Arjun was ready to be a part of a scientific experiment to seek revenge from Hamid Gul.
‘Attack’ Part 1: Plot Summary – What Is The Film About?
After twelve years of the successful surgical strike in which they got hold of the terrorist leader Rehman Gul, Arjun Shergill met the love of his life, Ayesha. She was an air hostess; they met each other when Ayesha missed a step, and Arjun caught hold of her, and they shared a kiss by chance (cringe!). He was mesmerized by her and asked her on a date, which Ayesha agreed to. Their romance began instantly. Ayesha, at one point, expressed how she was born to fall in love with Arjun. As their romance was in full swing, Arjun planned to propose to her. He went to receive her from the airport, and Ayesha noticed her man was waiting. She was excited to be with him. But just then, a group of terrorists entered the airport premise and started firing. People were murdered at random, and Arjun was able to push a suicide bomber away from the crowd to avoid severe damage. Ayesha started to help those around her escape from the attack. Arjun was injured, but he pushed himself to rise again and fight the enemy. He tried to go closer to Ayesha, but just then, he was shot in his leg. Arjun crawled towards her, and she ran to help him. A bullet pierced Ayesha’s chest, and she fell dead on the ground. Arjun cried in pain as he watched his lover pass away in front of his eyes. A terrorist shot him in the back, and he was left unconscious.
Arjun was hospitalized, and after two weeks, he came back to his senses. The doctor informed Arjun and his mother that he was paralyzed from the neck down. Arjun demanded a solution, but the doctor replied that he was paralyzed for life. He felt helpless in his condition. He required constant help from his mother, and that slowly started to break him down. One night, a group of thieves entered their house and stole his mother’s ring, which he had once thought of proposing to Ayesha with. Arjun watched them torture his mother and ransack their house, but he could do nothing about it. In the meantime, he learned that the airport attack was conducted by Hamid Gul, the son of Rehman Gul, the young boy he had allowed to survive during the surgical strike.
After the airport attack, the Indian government was determined to take down the terrorist group. The Indian Intelligence Chief, V.K. Subramanian, proposed using a super-soldier. While many dismissed his idea, calling it too far-fetched, he had complete belief in the technology and knew that it was the only way they could stay ahead of the situation and attack the enemy, causing fewer casualties. Dr. Sabaha Qureshi was the designer of the technology, and it was through her innovation that they hoped to win the war against terrorism. The only problem was that Sabaha would only use the technology on a wheelchair-bound volunteer since it was primarily developed to assist a physically challenged person.
Major Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Arjun Agree To Be A Part Of The Experiment? How Did He Train To Become A Super Soldier?
V.K. Subramanian believed Arjun to be the best candidate for the experiment. He reached Arjun’s house and proposed the idea. Even though Arjun knew that the success expectation was only 20%, he wanted to be a part of it. He had nothing to lose; he had already given up on life after losing Ayesha to the attack. This was his chance at revenge on the man who destroyed his life and was about to destroy his country. Indian Intelligence was aware that Hamid was purchasing chemical weapons from abroad. He had a bigger plan of destroying the nation, and all expectations were on the new technology.
After confirming his involvement, Arjun was introduced to Sabaha. She explained that a bionic chip would be implanted in his body, and to read the neural signals; a microcomputer would be installed with the help of an incision in his neck. In the third step, nano wireless electrodes would be injected into his muscles, and that would complete the brain-machine interface. As the process began, Arjun’s body temperature started to rise. Sabaha wanted to end the procedure, but V.K Subramaniam insisted she continue. Eventually, his body temperature came down to normal, and the procedure was completed. Arjun woke up with a severe headache. He tried to raise his hand but failed. But after a few seconds, his hand reached his head on reflex, and gradually he was able to sit up and walk. Arjun could hear a female voice instructing him. It was an IRA (Intelligence Robot Assistant). It was with the help of the IRA that Arjun could navigate the world easily and become the super soldier he was meant to be. Arjun trained hard to get back into shape. Before going to war with the terrorists, Arjun decided to take back the ring that was once stolen from his mother.
The IRA helped Arjun to fight against the group of thieves for the ring. She downloaded various fighting techniques that Arjun was unaware of. After the street fight, police followed Arjun for the damage. He instructed the IRA to find help for his escape, and she did, even though it involved jumping from a high-rise building. Arjun survived the jump, but since the AI was not completely in sync with him, it tended to shut down and create images from his mind that could lead Arjun to a coma-like state. Sabaha instructed him to wake up no matter how comforting the images from his mind were. Arjun was not completely ready, but V.K Subramaniam wanted him to start the mission. Sabaha and Subramaniam reached the parliament to discuss the mission with the ministers.
‘Attack’ Part 1: Ending Explained – How Did Arjun Manage The Parliament Attack? How Was The Bomb Diffused?
The men clothed in RAF uniforms entered the parliament premises. The system was hacked, and their IDs were verified by the security upon entry. The confusion began when the real RAF wanted to enter the premises; the security guards realized that they had been fooled by the men who had previously entered. In the meantime, the terrorists dressed in RAF uniforms blasted bombs and started to shoot those who were present inside. Sabaha was among those who were held captive by the terrorists. After shooting the entire security staff, the terrorists got hold of the Prime Minister. They gathered all the ministers and government officials in one room and took away their phones. Every door was laced with bombs, and Hamid contacted the government officials, warning them to not enter the premise without fulfilling his demands since there were bombs at every corner. Subramaniam headed the intelligence angle of the negotiation, while the Home Minister was primarily concerned about the safety of the Prime Minister.
Hamid’s first demand was to remove the commandos who had reached the terrace of the parliament with the help of helicopters. Subramaniam agreed with his demand, but he instead conducted a partial extraction. All the commandos were removed except Arjun, who had reached the zone. Hamid released 50 hostages in return. Arjun was in charge of secretly providing intelligence. With the help of the IRA, he entered the building and hacked into the computers to provide CCTV footage of the parliament to the intelligence team. The second demand of Hamid was to release his father, Rehman Gul, from prison. While the army chief and intelligence chief were against complying with the demands of a terrorist, the Home Minister wanted the safe return of the PM anyhow. Hamid was informed that his second demand would be granted as well.
Meanwhile, the IRA informed Arjun that Sabaha was in danger and had asked for help through her smartwatch. The terrorists had realized that she attempted to communicate when a notification buzzed. She was physically tortured for doing so, and Arjun could not keep his calm when he heard her scream repeatedly. While Subramaniam constantly asked Arjun to maintain a secret presence, Arjun knew that he had to save Sabaha, even if that meant going against his supervisor.
He killed all those who were in the room and saved Sabaha. He provided her with a bulletproof jacket and a gun. Meanwhile, Hamid entered the massacred room and realized that someone was lurking inside the building and killing his men. Maddened by anger, he shot a minister dead, and that scared the rescue team. Subramaniam asked Arjun to surrender himself to Hamid. Arjun had planned to seek revenge after getting into close proximity with Hamid, but instead, his sync with the IRA got disrupted after a blow to his neck. Arjun lost consciousness and stayed down on the ground. As Rehman Gul was flying back home escorted by Indian soldiers, his son would fly back and reunite with his father. Before leaving for the airport, Hamid turned on a chemical bomb that was about to blow in 20 minutes. While the Indian intelligence assumed that the car that left the parliament had Hamid, upon opening, they found government officials wrapped in bombs. Hamid had escaped from their sight. He knew that he would be arrested if he left through the main entrance. Therefore, he drilled a hole to leave through a passage that was created during the British era but was closed by the Indian government.
Meanwhile, Sabaha managed to get access to a laptop and rebooted Arjun’s system. Arjun dreamt of Ayesha while he was unconscious, but he soon regained his strength and was up on his feet to fight the enemies. He killed the entire terrorist group and left to get hold of Hamid when he found there was a timer on the chemical bomb. IRA analyzed the bomb and explained that it could only be diffused with the help of the controller, and if the bomb blasted, then it would ruin the entire Delhi. Arjun chased Hamid’s car with a bike. He followed him to the runway where Hamid was leaving in his private jet. Arjun obstructed his take-off path and banged his bike into the jet. The jet broke down, and Hamid tried to leave the premises, but Arjun had got hold of him. With swift movements, Arjun killed Hamid, but he still had a bomb to diffuse. With IRA’s help, he managed to diffuse the bomb and save the lives of thousands. At the parliament, Sabaha helped the hostage leave the premise after she found an intelligent way to escape the bombs fixed to the doors.
Rehman was thrown out of the flight mid-air when the intelligence informed the soldiers about the success of their mission. In the end, the nation was saved thanks to the sacrifice of one man and technology. The film ends with IRA and Arjun’s body syncing to 100%.
The film announces a second part too. A second part to an already boring first part is not too promising. Hopefully, the ones behind the camera have something interesting to offer. After all, another round of bland humor and sloppy romance is not what we need.
‘Attack’ is a 2022 Indian Drama Science Fiction film directed by Lakshya Raj Anand.
