At the heart of Aiyaary is the towering confrontation between two generations of officers, embodied by Manoj Bajpayee and Sidharth Malhotra. Colonel Abhay Singh (Bajpayee) is the establishment’s unwavering pillar—a man who believes in the system even as he acknowledges its cracks. Bajpayee delivers a performance of simmering restraint and volcanic authority. His deep, gravelly voice and piercing eyes convey decades of sacrifice, frustration, and a fatherly disappointment that transcends mere military discipline. In contrast, Major Jatin Sharma (Malhotra) is the idealist who has seen too much. Malhotra, often criticized for boyish charm, here sheds his glamorous image to portray a man burdened by conscience. While his performance lacks Bajpayee’s lived-in texture, it successfully captures the righteous anger and vulnerability of a protégé forced to rebel against his mentor. Their scenes together are not just action beats but philosophical duels, and the casting elevates the film from a standard chase thriller to a meditation on loyalty.
However, the film’s true secret weapon is its deep bench of veteran character actors. Naseeruddin Shah, as the retired, wheelchair-bound intelligence mastermind Tariq Ali, provides the film with its moral and strategic anchor. In just a few scenes, Shah infuses the narrative with gravitas and a weary wisdom that spans decades of Indian political history. His quiet, almost playful delivery of sharp truths serves as the counterpoint to Bajpayee’s rigid discipline, suggesting that true aiyaary (deception) is an art of the patient and the old. Similarly, the late Om Puri, in one of his final film appearances, delivers a poignant performance as the principled Colonel Mukesh Kapoor. Puri’s naturalism and pathos lend weight to the film’s critique of a corrupt system, and his scenes are imbued with a bittersweet sense of an era ending. cast of aiyaary
The supporting cast further enriches the world of Aiyaary . Anupam Kher, as the cunning and slippery politician Suryakant Sharma, plays to type with enjoyable villainy, representing the systemic rot that the heroes are fighting. Adil Hussain, a powerhouse in his own right, appears briefly but memorably as the stoic and conflicted senior officer, adding another layer to the bureaucratic maze. The female leads, though given less screen time, serve crucial narrative functions. Rakul Preet Singh, as Malhotra’s love interest, provides a civilian window into the soldier’s tortured psyche, while Pooja Chopra’s intelligence officer represents the quieter, technical side of espionage. Even actors like Rajesh Tailang, playing a loyal subordinate, and Vikram Gokhale, as the Chief of Army Staff, bring authenticity and a documentary-like realism to the corridors of power. At the heart of Aiyaary is the towering