War Is Stuffed with Entertainment but Suffers from Clichés, Predictability and a Mediocre Script

By Avik Basak

When you go for a film that stars the likes of Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff and has been titled, “War”, you enter the theatre with some predisposed ideas. After going through its 2-hour and 34-minute marathon runtime, one can surely say that most of those thoughts come true but does that make the movie worth spending your valuable time and money? I will leave the answer to you as it depends on what you are looking for while heading to the theatre.

The film begins with Kabir, a superspy played by Hrithik Roshan who has been denoted as ‘the best’, has supposedly gone rogue and has been killing Indian soldiers and agents. Hence, he needs to be brought down and the task is given to his favourite protégé, Khalid played by Tiger Shroff as he claims to know the former better (or you may ask, “Does he?”) and the titular ‘war’ begins between them.

Now, to be honest, the leading men do quite well and genuinely try to portray their characters the best they can. Hrithik’s charm and style along with Tiger’s earnestness make you really indulge in the proceedings when they appear on the screen. It also makes you feel sorry when you find that the script does not do justice to them. Instead of weaving a sleek and gripping tale, the writers which also include director Siddharth Anand serve us with a story that is packed with clichés, predictability, and a lack of innovation as well as imagination. It comes as no shock that the screenplay’s highest achievement is the final twist or reveal which somehow manages to surprise us but also raises some questions about the plot’s viability as logic takes a backseat. Also, there is nothing new about Anand’s direction from his previous films except for the fact that he has spent significantly more time in capturing the dramatic close-up shots of his leading men when they make their entry. 

But there is no reason to think that nothing works in this film. Benjamin Jasper’s cinematography and camerawork are a delight as he captures the picturesque locales from different parts of the world as well as the action sequences with finesse. Talking about the action set pieces, these are the best bits of the film thanks to the amazing work done by the four action directors. Though they could have done away with the occasional Bollywood touch, these are the moments one would surely relish. Vishal and Shekhar do well with the songs which seem to be forcefully included in the film while Ankit and Sanchit Balhara along with Daniel B. George have created an excellent background score that sounds amazing. Editor Aarif Sheikh could have been sharper with his scissors as the film seems unnecessarily dragged with its whooping runtime.

The supporting actors, including Ashutosh Rana, Dipannita Sharma, Soni Razdan, and Swaroopa Ghosh, too have done a fair enough job but it is very difficult to appreciate their performances since the screenplay does not give them enough to work with. Vaani Kapoor who is supposed to be the only leading lady of the film has been given just a blink and miss role and a dance performance in a song. Apart from the two stars, it is only Anupriya Goenka who gets a meatier role as a technical analyst in Kabir’s team and whose character turns out to be a pivotal one.

Overall, War is a film that shows promise but could not thrive in terms of storytelling due to its lack of attention to the script. But if you are okay to compromise with logic and can overlook its clichés and predictability, then you can surely watch it for its action set pieces and the swagger of its leading men. It is as I said, depends on what you are looking for.

2.3 Stars Out of 5 from Me…