War (2 Oct 2019)

Genre: Action Thriller
Language: Hindi
Duration: 154 minutes

Story: Aditya Chopra, Siddharth Anand
Screenplay: Siddharth Anand, Shridhar Raghavan
Dialogue: Abbas Tyrewala

Producer: Aditya Chopra
Director: Siddharth Anand

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Vaani Kapoor, Ashtosh Rana, Keith Dallison, Anil George, Soni Razdan, Dipannita Sharma, Anupriya Goenka, Arif Zakaria, Mohit Chauhan

Music: Vishal & Shekhar, Ankit & Sanchit Balhara
Background Score: Daniel B George

Action: Paul Jennings, SeaYoung Oh, Franz Spilhaus, Parvez Shaikh
Editing: Aarif Sheikh
Cinematography: Ben Jasper

Introduction:

"War is set to be a visual spectacle for quintessential action cinema lovers as they would witness Hrithik and Tiger pull off jaw-dropping sequences as they try to beat each other."

Made with a budget of ₹ 200 Crores, the movie is a full bloom commercial fiction comprising of chiselled good looks with star swag, death defying high octane stunts and picturesque locales from 7 countries.

The Plot:

Khalid Khan (Tiger Shroff), an Indian special agent is asked to search and terminate Kabir Luthra (Hrithik Roshan), who happens to be his senior, mentor and idol. Apparently, Kabir went abroad on a mission and thereupon turned incommunicado. Noone has any idea of his whereabouts, including any proof of his return to India! But still he managed to kill a high profile government official in India. So, the usual verdict is that, Kabir has gone rogue and he needs to be terminated.

What follows is a series of flashbacks and present day scenes, wherein Khalid recalls the two missions at Morocco and Iraq, that he had participated under Kabir's leadership, wherein he proved himself to be a loyal, effective and worthy soldier in Kabir's eyes, who was earlier dubious in letting Khalid join his team, as he had personally executed Khalid's father in the past in self-defense and also because he was a traitor to the nation.

Post his second high rank killing, Kabir shares with Khalid, the name of his third target, who happens to be in Portugal. Kabir ends up killing him as well, inspite of the big fight put forward by Khalid.

In the meantime, he is also trying to nab Ilyasi, an international money launderer who lives a highly protected life in the garb of a big businessman. It is imperative to catch Ilyasi to protect India from an upcoming terrorist attack of mammoth proportions. Earlier, to get to him in Italy, he had used the services of Naina (Vaani Kapoor), a dancer and single mother, who was shot dead and the onus of taking care of her hostel residing daughter fell upon Kabir.

To get to Ilyasi, Kabir needs to find and eliminate one more traitor amongst his countrymen.

Alongside, Khalid is determined to stop Kabir from doing any more assassination and bring him back in a coffin, if required.

What follows is a series of high power chase and fight sequences, as good as a war, encompassing land, air, water, ice, bikes, ruins and the likes, between the two protagonists, followed by climax and anticlimax, till the needful is done.

Movie Analysis:

There is good acting, then there is good acting with star power, finally there is good acting with star power and full swag that doesn't look crass but absolutely pleasing to the eyes. Hrithik has achieved this totality of the celluloid screen with this movie. He has surpassed himself and brought forward all his talents and charisma, all together in a seamless harmony.

When before has a hero with tattered shirt, blood soaked and wound infested face, dirt and grime covered body, sitting on a chair with hands tied and surrounded with menacing terrorists looked adorable? Well, ladies and gentlemen our very own Duggu has managed to look the same in this movie! And lesser said about his entry scene, the disembark walk from the helicopter, the better. You need to see it to believe it.

At times, he appears like a potent mix of Brad Pitt and George Clooney! He has very well enacted the role of a highly experienced, calculative but slightly arrogant special agent.

Tiger looks equally good and dances and combats with amazing grace. As compared to Hrithik, he looks vulnerable and doe-eyed. He has also acted well.

Both of them share excellent mantor-follower chemistry on screen and perfectly complement each other. Their combined dancing prowess is quite visible in 'Jai Jai Shiv Shankar', an absolutely unnecessary but endearing song.

Vaani has a dance number 'Ghungroo' and very few scenes. Along with Hrithik, she burns ablaze the screen in the former and is passable in the latter.

Other actors including the villains, as such don't have much scenes or any scope to leave an impact. But cumulatively, they have supported the movie quite well.

The movie has been shot in 7 different countries and 15 world cities. Good cinematography of military grade carriers, aerial shots and vast expanses of lands at - Morocco, Iraq, Portugal, Italy, India, Arctic Region and Australia, keeps the movie interesting.

A total of 4 action directors, 3 foreign and 1 Indian have ensured world class chase and combat scenes throughout the movie. The action scenes of 'War' are an all encompassing cocktail of almost all the brilliant action scenes that we have come across in the recent years.

The only problem with the movie is the corny storyline and dual layers of suspenses. The first layer is predictable soon enough and by the time the second layer is unravelled, the audience has lost it's interest in the plot.

The first half of the movie is superb, but the second half feels a little lost and unnecessary elongated.

The movie has full potential to become the next franchise of the Yash Raj Films banner.

Conclusion:

Do watch the movie for the larger than life presence of forty plus Hrithik Roshan, well foiled by the youthful presence of Tiger Shroff, amidst jaw dropping action sequences and picturesque locales.