Attack

About the film

Attack: Part 1 is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language science fiction action film directed by Lakshya Raj Anand, who co-wrote the film with Sumit Batheja and Vishal Kapoor, based on a story by John Abraham, who stars in the lead role as a cyborg, alongside Jacqueline Fernandez, Rakul Preet Singh, Prakash Raj and Ratna Pathak Shah in supporting roles.

Attack was released on 1 April 2022 and received mixed to negative reviews from critics and eventually bombed at the box office.

Plot

In 2010 Indian Army officer Arjun Shergill and his team are on a mission to capture terrorist Rehman Gul, who attacked an Indian army convoy two days before. After a shootout Arjun arrests Rehman and saves a suicide bomber, who is Rehman's son Hamid Gul.

Two years later at Mumbai Airport, Arjun meets air hostess Ayesha and they fall in love. Some time later, as the result of an attack orchestrated by Hamid's men, Ayesha is killed at the airport and Arjun is paralysed from the neck down. V. K. Subramaniam, Chief of Indian Intelligence and Arjun's superior officer, proposes an AI-operated supersoldier program to the Prime Minister at a meeting to tackle rising attacks under Hamid and to prepare for future wars, which are shifting from traditional warfare to AI and machines. Defence Research and Development scientist Sabaha Qureshi has been modifying the supersoldiers program for 7 years and is on the verge of a major breakthrough.

The Prime Minister agrees and Subramaniam selects Arjun for the program. Arjun is hesitant but agrees as he wants to avenge Ayesha's death. Arjun operates himself under the command of the Intelligent Robotic Assistant (IRA), which is restricted due to Arjun's trauma. But soon, Sabaha turns Arjun into a cyborg using technology and a chip is inserted into Arjun's body.

Production

Principal photography began in January 2020. The production was put on hold in March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. The shooting resumed in February 2021.

Release

Attack: Part 1 was originally scheduled for theatrical opening worldwide on 14 August 2020, but it was delayed due to the shooting suspension. The film was scheduled for release on 28 January 2022, but it was postponed due to the surge in Omicron variant cases. The film was theatrically released on 1 April 2022.

The film streamed on ZEE5 on 27 May 2022.

Reception

Attack earned ₹3.51 crore at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected ₹3.75 crore. On the third day the film had a worldwide gross of ₹4.25 crore, taking total domestic weekend collection to ₹11.51 crore.

As of 14 April 2022, the film grossed ₹19.20 crore in India and ₹3.50 crore overseas, for a worldwide gross collection of ₹22.70 crore.

Attack: Part 1 received mixed reviews from critics with praise for its action scenes while the script was criticised. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 6 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10.

Soundtrack

The film's music is composed by Shashwat Sachdev while lyrics written by Kumaar and Bjorn Surrao.

Future

As indicated by the title, the film was made as part of a planned franchise. Director Anand has stated to Hindustan Times, "We have created these characters whose journey doesn’t end after part one, the journey begins. And he takes the learning from what happens in part one to part two and three. It automatically lends itself to action films". For Attack: Part 2, John Abraham has said that a script is ready and they "signed on for Attack 2 with Jayanthi Bhai even before the release of Attack."

Key details