WAR review: A spectacle for most part!

Rating:

Two Indian soldiers are warring against each other. More than that two action stars of Hindi cinema are fighting against each other. Don’t ask too many questions, don’t try to apply too much logic, it will take the fun away from watching an otherwise spectacle – WAR. Captain Khalid (Tiger Shroff) is trained by Major Kabir (Hrithik Roshan). A spectacular and gripping first half of the movie reveals how they have reached from being bros to foes.

WAR could well have been Dhoom Reloaded; but the makers have made a sincere attempt to give these two heroes some back story and some flaws that make them super-humans than super-heroes. It is still larger than life, a tad tiring but watchable. It is popcorn entertainment. And the makers here are trying to bridge the gap between masses and classes.

Tiger Shroff flies like he does in every movie, but in this one he feels pain. A superbly choreographed combat scene introduces Tiger as he busts a mafia deal in Portugal. On the other hand, Hrithik is introduced as the quintessential superstar, getting off an helicopter and his subordinates looking at him in awe. Biggest admirer among them is Tiger, who idolises Hrithik in real life too. So, Tiger’s admiration for his senior officer (Hrithik) is inherently there. They look like brothers and their chemistry makes their bromance a fresh offering after a long time. WAR might just get its own franchise in near future.

Watch the WAR trailer:

WAR has reinvented the action scene in Hindi cinema with a more western-like cinematic sensibilities while blending the Indianness of emotions. Hrithik has experienced superstardom from his first film Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai. He went on to play a superhero (Krrish franchise) and an action superstar in Dhoom 2 and Bang Bang. But he can still pull off a Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and somehow manage a Super 30. But Tiger Shroff’s career has been modelled around action only. WAR is his sincerest performance. His acting prowess is not what we go to watch on screen. We have made peace with it. From whatever I have seen of him in films, this character of Khalid is (visibly) driven by emotion than just the action.

It is a film about bromance and it is mounted on two pairs of strong shoulders. It is about Hrithik and Tiger and they sail the ship through. The story (Siddharth Anand, Aditya Chopra) and screenplay (Siddharth Anand, Sridhar Raghavan) have enough twists and turns but silly situations take us to reach the end. The dialogues (Abbas Tyrewala) are lazy writing; needed some smart-ass lines. But by that time, you have put logic, questions aside, you just want to enjoy the action spectacle.

After the spectacular first half, the narrative drags, sometimes on the verge of derailing from the track. It’s a little too long. Maybe in near future – makers and audience – as a collective, won’t feel the need for unnecessary songs. Frankly, I had thought both songs Ghungroo and Jai Jai Shivshankar were meant as promotional songs but sitting through them during the movie was testing my patience. The twists are interesting but getting from one twist to another gets predictable on couple of occasions.

Also read: The Family Man review: This James Bond from Chembur is a delight to binge watch!

Four action directors have choreographed action for WAR and they have created some thrilling set-pieces. The first combat scene of Tiger, has only background score of fists and screams. It’s an adrenaline rush. But background score in the rest of the film is a little overdone.

Putting together such a big budget action film, especially if it features high-tech intelligence and security services, is definitely a tough task. In India, you have to find the lowest common denominator so that you cater to a pan-India audience. YRF had superbly managed that with Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai starring Salman Khan. The success of it lies in humanising the quintessential superstar whose on-screen image has ruled the movies for decades. The makers surely have honed their skills with their latest offering. WAR’s success lies in its two humanised heroes, albeit action too. Watching it on screen once doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Don’t ask many questions. Just enjoy the spectacle.