Tehran on Zee5 starring John Abraham
Review by Sumita Chakraborty
On paper, Tehran looked like a gripping geopolitical thriller… tense, timely, and led by John Abraham, an actor whose film choices usually lean into strong narratives. But after watching it, TheGlitz was left wondering: where did it all go wrong?
Despite its ambitious premise, Tehran, directed by Arun Gopalan and produced by Maddock Films, is ultimately a sluggish and underwhelming affair that squanders its potential almost entirely. Why do we say that? Read on…
Tehran: An Uneven Ride from the Start
The film opens with the kind of setup that should draw you in… espionage, covert operations, and a backdrop involving the 2012 terror plot near the Israeli embassy in Delhi. But right from the first act, the film begins to stumble.
The editing is super jarring, scenes jump without rhythm, killing the tension before it ever really builds. For a thriller, the pacing needed to be razor-sharp. Instead, it often meanders uncertainly, unsure whether it wants to be a slow-burn drama or an action-packed spy flick. Either way, it misses both marks.
Performances That Don’t Rescue the Script
John Abraham, the film’s most recognizable face, delivers a performance that’s… just okay. His stoic presence fits the genre on the surface, but his portrayal lacks emotional nuance or internal conflict, both crucial for a spy thriller protagonist. As a result, it’s hard to connect with his character or care about his journey.
Manushi Chhillar and Neeru Bajwa are little more than background noise… underutilized, poorly written, and inserted into the plot with barely any impact. The only supporting character who makes a brief impression is the Haryanvi cop, who initially injects some energy and local flavour into the narrative. His no-nonsense attitude and delivery stand out… but somewhere down the line, even his arc turns muddy, leaving his motivations and relevance to the plot unclear.
In the end, the entire cast is let down by a screenplay that fails to define its characters beyond archetypes, resulting in performances that can’t lift the weight of a story already burdened by confusion and uneven execution.
A Thriller Without Thrills
The biggest letdown, however, is how tedious the entire experience feels. With a runtime that drags, Tehran becomes more of an endurance test than an engaging watch. The plot, while initially intriguing, quickly descends into a muddled mess, leaving the viewer grasping for clarity or even just a spark of excitement.
And let’s not forget the inconsistencies like modern cars showing up in 2012, or emotionally flat scenes that should be tense and gripping. These details may seem minor, but in a film that aims for realism, they matter.
The Glitz Verdict
Tehran is all gloss and no grit… a bloated geopolitical thriller that promises tension but delivers tedium. What should’ve been a lean, edge-of-your-seat ride drags into a lifeless slog, undone by clumsy editing, wooden performances, and a script that confuses confusion for complexity.
John Abraham tries to hold it together, but he’s let down by lazy writing and zero character depth. The rest of the cast barely registers, the pacing is DOA, and the suspense? Nonexistent. Tehran is all buildup with no bang… a poster-worthy promo trapped in the body of a forgettable film.
Honestly, TheGlitz was excited as we felt this would be a worthy thriller coming from Maddock Films and helmed by John Abraham. But Tehran feels like a film that had all the ingredients… an engaging premise, a dependable lead, and a high-stakes political backdrop, but somewhere in the chaotic mix, it lost its flavour.
What could have been a taut, intelligent thriller ends up feeling like a long, meandering, and emotionally hollow experience. It’s not that the film lacks ambition, it just lacks the execution to bring that ambition to life. So, what exactly happened behind-the-scenes? Did the censors play spoilsport – this being a geo- political thriller? Or did the producer lose his nerve?
In the end, Tehran is a stylish shell of a thriller, missing the very pulse that could have made it memorable.
