At its heart, Aiyaary asks a timeless question: What happens when a soldier’s loyalty to the nation conflicts with his loyalty to a corrupt system? The film follows Colonel Abhay Singh (Bajpayee), a stoic, principled Army officer, and his protégé, Major Jai Bakshi (Malhotra). When Jai discovers a high-level deal involving a stolen military software and a corrupt senior officer (a chillingly calm Adil Hussain), he goes rogue, stealing a classified file and forcing Abhay to chase him across India and London.
The non-linear narrative, which flashes back and forth between the present chase and past training days, is meant to build emotional depth. Instead, it creates narrative whiplash. Just when the chase in London gains momentum, the film cuts to a prolonged, leisurely flashback in a military academy. The tonal inconsistency is jarring—shifting from a gritty cat-and-mouse thriller to a sentimental tribute to army tradition and back again. aiyaary -2018-
The film’s strength lies in its central ideological debate. Bajpayee, as always, is the anchor. He brings a weary gravitas to Abhay—a man who has made compromises to survive within the system but has never lost his moral compass. The scenes between Bajpayee and Malhotra crackle with genuine mentor-mentee tension, especially when they argue about the definition of patriotism. The film’s dialogue, particularly Bajpayee’s monologues about the sacrifices of a soldier, is sharp and memorable. At its heart, Aiyaary asks a timeless question: