Phantom is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language spy action thriller film directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Siddharth Roy Kapur. The film stars Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif in leading roles.Saif's Phantom to Akshay's Baby: How Bollywood has dealt with terrorism on screen India Today. Retrieved 27 August 2015. The screenplay of the film was written in coordination with author Hussain Zaidi's book Mumbai Avengers on the aftermath of 26/11 Mumbai attacks.Saif Ali Khan-Katrina Kaif starter 'Phantom' gets a book 100 days before release – Mumbai Avengers Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 4 May 2015. The film was released worldwide on 28 August 2015 to mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
The story opens with a narration of Mumbai and the assault it suffered across the world at the hands of the perpetrators of the 26/11 terror attacks.
Sometime in present day, a car chase in Chicago leads to a scuffle between a man ostensibly named Jude Rosario and an American male known as Matthew Brody. The scuffle ends with Brody falling into the icy waters of Chicago River, and his body missing. This results in Rosario being arrested and convicted of murder.
A flashback to six months prior shows the office of the Indian RAW chief Roy, where he and his trusted men plan a daring covert operation. The man, known as Jude Rosario in the opening sequence, is shown to be Captain Daniyal Khan, a dead-end ex-soldier with a completely deadpan sense of life and death which is pulled out of oblivion and pressed into service by the spy agency to wreak vengeance on the men who planned the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. He agrees on the assurance that he will be reinstated in the Indian army to the same rank from which he was court-martialled, which meant regaining the respect of his estranged father, retd. Col. Usman Khan, and mentee, Dilawar Singh. His only team member, Nawaz Mistry helps him find his first target Sajid Mir at a cricket match in London. On reaffirming his identity after breaking into his apartment, Daniyal rigs up an explosion which kills Sajid, which makes the headlines explaining it was accidental, resulting in an investigation by the Pakistani ISI.
Back in the present day, Daniyal, a.k.a. Jude, has landed in the same jail as David Headley, his next target. He contacts Nawaz in order to acquire money to buy a battery, as a replacement for another one which holds a certain poison. The poison, succinylcholine, is untraceable as it can kill a person when it touches the tongue, causing a heart attack. After killing Headley by plugging the poisonous battery into a showerhead he usually uses, Daniyal learns that Brody, who supposedly died upon falling in the river, is found alive, and Daniyal is released as his earlier sentence is rendered null and void; Brody is revealed to have been on Daniyal's payroll. Meanwhile, ISI agents gather information about Daniyal.
He and Nawaz travel to Syria via Lebanon, to get in touch with the fighters of Lashkar-e-Taiba. There, Daniyal is held captive by the L-e-T and is forced into revealing the purpose of killing Sajid Mir and David Headley, on camera. The chief of L-e-T in Syria tries his best to send the video of Daniyal's confession to ISI, but the war-torn situation of Syria has led to a mass disruption of communication networks. Nawaz, with her team of soldiers, kills the subordinates of L-e-T, much to the chagrin of Daniyal. Subsequently, Daniyal, Nawaz, and the team escape from the clutches of the L-e-T after a bloody gunfight. Daniyal manages to kill the Syrian chief of L-e-T, just before he is about to send the video to the ISI, and destroys the recordings. Frustrated after an agent discovers Brody and learns of the ploy, the ISI kills the Indian Consulate General of Jordan, Mr. Rajan Sampath, in a gas explosion, similar to the killing of Sajid Mir, as a revenge attack. The RAW chief Roy reprimands Daniyal for unnecessarily killing someone who was not meant to be killed and asks him to call off the mission. Nawaz encourages Daniyal to carry on the mission to avenge the 2008 Mumbai Attacks by killing the direct people who orchestrated the whole mission. She offers to take him and herself to Pakistan.
Daniyal and Nawaz go to Pakistan to take down the last two perpetrators, Sahabuddin Umvi and Haaris Saeed. There, they make plans of killing Saeed with the help of a local restaurant owner and RAW agent Khalid, by an explosive planted in the mic used during his public rally. However, their plan fails, leading Daniyal to pursue Saeed in a car and shoot him dead, also causing an explosion. Umvi is killed with the help of a nurse Amina Bi, a mother who lost her militant son in a suicide attack, who replaces his regular medicine with poison, later shooting herself after the police find her at her home.
With the Pakistani army and ISI pursuing them, Daniyal and Nawaz make their way to the coast to escape through the Arabian Sea. Their accomplices get caught and interrogated for information or are killed. While they are escaping on a boat, the Pakistani military finds out about it and sends patrol boats to apprehend them. While hiding in the waters with Nawaz, Daniyal gets shot by the military and dies. Nawaz later gets rescued by the Indian Navy, after they leave. Later, she goes to the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, where she meets a tea seller who was giving tea for free as his son, who was a waiter in the hotel and was killed by the terrorists in attacks, has now been avenged as Daniyal killed them. She buys two cups of tea from him, fulfilling a promise earlier made to Daniyal.
Cast
Saif Ali Khan as Captain Daniyal Khan / Jude Rosario Katrina Kaif as Nawaz Mistry, a former R&AW Agent Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Samit Mishra, a R&AW officer Rajesh Tailang as Alok, a R&AW officer Sabyasachi Chakrabarty as Roy, Chief of R&AW Middat Khan as Khalid Hussain Sohaila Kapur as Amina Bi Shahnawaz Pradhan as Haaris Saeed J. Brandon Hill as David Coleman Headley Mir Sarwar as Sajid Mir Sunil Nagar as Sabahuddin Umvi Kaizaad Kotwal as Pakistan Ambassador Shehriyar Baig Tushar Pandey as Ashraf Ali, Amina Bi's assistant Mukul Nag as Qureshi Yaad Grewal as a man in Sajid Mir's flat Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal as Mehrun Khan, Daniyal's mother Denzil Smith as ISI Chief Haider Ashwath Bhatt as ISI agent Firoz Pooran Kiri as ISI agent Javed Prashant Kumar as Moosa Sumit Gulati as Shehzad Anoop Gautam as Pakistani Commando Noor Mohammad Mohan Maharishi as the National Security Advisor of India Hemant Mahaur as Pakistani boatman Rajiv Gupta as Indian Naval officer Qazi Touqeer in a special appearance in the song "Afghan Jalebi"
Production
Development Kabir Khan and author S. Hussain Zaidi had come together to collaborate on Kabir's then untitled film, based on the scenario post-26/11 Mumbai attacks with Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif signed in leading roles.Sajid Nadiadwala teams up with Katrina Kaif, Saif Ali Khan & Kabir Khan for the first time Glamsham. Retrieved 7 November 2013 The screenplay of the film is an adaptation and is co-written in conjunction with Hussain's then-unreleased book.Phantom Second Poster Out Box Office India. Retrieved 24 July 2015 The film earlier had a working title as Daniyal Khan, before being titled Phantom.Saif-Katrina starrer titled Daniyal Khan? Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 10 October 2013Kabir Khan preferred the title 'Phantom' over 'Mumbai Avengers' The Times of India. Retrieved 12 August 2015 Saif Ali Khan and Kaif have reportedly learnt Kurdish and Arabic for their roles.Is Saif Ali Khan's Phantom's storyline similar to Akshay Kumar's Baby? India Today. Retrieved 4 February 2015Katrina Kaif learns Arabic for 'Phantom' Hindustan Times. Retrieved 31 January 2014 The plot of the film weaves a fictional story to kill the perpetrators of 2008 Mumbai attacks- Sajid Mir, David Coleman Headley, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi (named as Sabahuddin Umvi)Why 26/11 mastermind is afraid of Bollywood's Phantom. Dailyo.in. Retrieved on 13 March 2016.Few Facts You Should Know Before Watching Saif-Katrina’s Phantom’s Trailer. Koimoi. Retrieved on 13 March 2016.26/11 suspects in Katrina Kaif- Saif Ali Khan starrer 'Phantom' – Times of India. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 13 March 2016.Phantom movie review: Saif-Katrina's tale of 26/11 Mumbai Attacks is a veritable phantom : Reviews, News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (28 August 2015). Retrieved on 13 March 2016. and Hafiz Saeed (named as Haaris Saeed).26/11 trial: David Headley says ISI handler Major Iqbal wanted to add Mumbai airport to list of targets : Americas, News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (25 May 2011). Retrieved on 13 March 2016.Sajid Mir's war against the world. The Hindu (30 May 2011). Retrieved on 13 March 2016.26/11: Why ISI continues to shield Sajid Mir – Rediff.com India News. Rediff.com (29 November 2013). Retrieved on 13 March 2016. The film also depicts incidents similar to the Assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh and Boston Marathon bombing. Kashmiri Sufi singer Qazi Touqeer featured in the Afghan Jalebi song.Katrina Kaif is an Afghan Jalebi in New Phantom Song – NDTV Movies. Movies.ndtv.com (31 July 2015). Retrieved on 13 March 2016.
Phantom marks Saif Ali Khan's only film to be a billed UTV Motion Pictures production, with Siddharth Roy Kapur attached as producer; despite several of his previous films such as Race (2008), Kurbaan (2009) and Race 2 being distributed by the company, he had never formally worked on any of their productions. It is also Kaif's second of three films to be produced by UTV, the first being Tees Maar Khan (2010) and the third being Fitoor (2016), while her fourth and final collaboration with Kapur came with the Disney–produced musical Jagga Jasoos (2017), which UTV distributed.
Filming