War Review: Hrithik Roshan And Tiger Shroff’s Film Delivers Exactly What It Promised- A Stunning Action Extravaganza Dripping With Swagger

There is nothing more satisfying than a director who knows what his audience wants and goes out of his way to make it exactly that and more. With War , Siddharth Anand has proved himself to be that director.

If you are going to watch War expecting the technical precision and ‘real’ army film like Uri: The Surgical Strike then you would be doing a disservice to not just the film but depriving yourself of a true-blue action extravaganza.  There are loopholes in the story, things do get a little convenient and there are cop-outs but all of that pales in comparison to the sheer hard work that has gone into creating this masterpiece of a visual treat.

Coming to two of the finest specimens of male species in the film Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff , they are dripping with swagger, style, and absolute gorgeousness in every single frame and that takes a different level of commitment to performance altogether. Tiger Shroff might not be the most expressive actor but he more than makes up for it with everything. His action skill including handling of heavy ammunition, every kick, every punch, every movement of his every muscle is so full of conviction. His stoic personality gels really well with the character of Khaleed, the killing machine and in the climax his stone-cold expressions helps the plot immensely. Saying any more of this would amount to major spoilers.

Now coming to the absolute dream that is Hrithik Roshan, words fail to express how absolutely gorgeous this human being can be. As if his ripping muscles and rugged appearance were not doing enough damage to our hearts, his slightly cocky portrayal of Kabir is something we have definitely seen on-screen before but never has anyone managed to make it look this sexy.

Every time Hrithik comes on screen he gets a dramatic entry which could have got annoying with almost anyone else. But with Hrithik, it feels natural! Hrithik sells it and boy do you buy it. Also, given how absolutely stunning this man is and how he brings a certain level of swagger and coolness to a character, Tiger Shroff was truly up against a challenge. But to his credit, he holds his fort and his precision and martial arts training comes out in the hand-to-hand combat moment where he even manages to eclipse Hrithik Roshan. in fact, although Tiger has always been known as the action hero, this one might open up some new possibilities for him and turn a new leaf over.

The rest of the star cast, including Ashutosh Rana , Anupriya Goenka, and others deliver what was expected of them. As for Vaani Kapoor , she looks amazing and leaves an impact on the very small screen time that she is assigned. While her track and the length of it is perfectly in sync with the pace of the narrative, I, perhaps, wanted a little more of her simply because of how amazing she is. Something about her dialogue delivery has a charm that is fairly rare and we sincerely hope that this gorgeous woman really does more films.

The action of the film by Paul Jennings, who has worked on projects like Game of Thrones and Fast & Furious, along with Franz Spilhaus, SeaYoung Oh and Parvez Shaikh is something that Indian cinema has not seen before. It is crisp, it larger than life and what makes the film a masterpiece. It helps that Hrithik and Tiger are two people who are capable enough of reflecting this crazy vision on screen. There are scenes when the action plays out like a well-choreographed ballet as Hrithik and Tiger shoot bullets and do all sorts of crazy stunts with the grace of a dancer. It is just not their body or fitness, but the action directors have in fact put their dancing talents into use and all you can do is stare in disbelief as they do it.

The story of the film though not bad is something we have seen before but the crisp editing and sharp screenplay keeps the pace consistent and keeps you engaged. The twist, in the end, might be predicted by a few really intelligent cine-goers, but that does not take away from the experience one bit and you still gasp in shock when it happens. When you are dealing with such mind-blowing visuals it is easy to let it go on for more time than is required but they make sure that the scene transitions before it starts to feel too drawn and that’s true even for the epic climax scene.

The twists and turns can get convoluted at times, but they manage to pull things together almost immediately. A little attention is required from the audience to really catch the drift but that does not seem to pose any challenge because you cannot take your eyes off rugged Hrithik and Tiger and the gorgeous international locations.

Helming a project of this scale and magnitude needs some superhuman efforts and as the captain of this ship Siddharth Anand deserves the credit for this. Apart from his vision, his complete unapologetic approach to the masala element of the film without compromising with the quality of what he set out to make is truly commendable. There are typical Hindi film staple dramatic moments in the film but they just add to the mainstream appeal of it and have been dealt with pretty efficiently. He had indeed made some bold choices and that is to be applauded

War is one of those films that you watch for what it promised- two ruggedly handsome young and fit men dripping with swagger, uber-cool stunts, awe-inducing action, and gorgeous locations. Expecting any more would be unfair to the film that clearly reflects how much sweat and blood and whole different level of commitment to performance have gone into making it.