Berlin is an upcoming Hindi film starring Aparshakti Khurana, Ishwak Singh, Rahul Bose and Anupriya Goenka. It is set in the early 90s after the Cold War and is about the fight among India’s government agencies. The premise is original and the relevance of the title is fascinating. Writer-director Atul Sabharwal has given it a very Hollywood-style treatment and it reminds one of films like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Bridge Of Spies etc. However, it’s too complicated and takes a while for the viewers to understand the exact story. On top of it, the actions of a crucial character are questionable from start to finish. The performances are lovely. Both Aparshakti Khurana and Ishwak Singh are superb. Rahul Bose is quite good, as expected. Anupriya Goenka does a great job but sadly, has very limited screen time. One wishes she had more to do. Kabir Bedi, too, is hardly there. Late Nitesh Pandey (Mehta), Ujjwal Chopra (Kapil Mahajan) and Deepak Qazir Kejriwal (J V Raman) leave a mark. All in all, Berlin rests on an interesting idea but fails to impress due to the complicated storytelling.

My rating - ** out of 5!