War 2 offers you exactly what you’d expect from a mass entertainer: some escapist fun, truly knockout action scenes, and overall, a good time at the movies, observes Mayur Sanap.
There’s no better theatrical experience when a well-made masala film delivers on its promises.
War 2, with all the trappings of a sleek actioner and collective power of two massive stars in form of Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR offers you exactly what you’d expect from a mass entertainer: some escapist fun, truly knockout action scenes, and overall, a good time at the movies.
As the latest entrant in the YRF Spy Universe, this is a direct sequel to War that had paired Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff for the first time.
The sequel has RRR actor Jr NTR making his Bollywood debut and going head-to-head with Hrithik, spelling out the film’s title.
But this is not a straight-out hero-vs-villain story.
And thankfully, there are no easy plot contrivances for shock value (remember the ludicrous plastic surgery twist in the earlier part?).
The writing by Shridhar Raghavan is clean and as a new director to the Spy franchise, Ayan Mukerji understands the assignment well and crafts a Hollywood-style actioner with just enough masala for a true-blue desi entertainer.
The film builds up on the lore of Kabir, played by Hrithik Roshan.
He is a former Indian intelligence agent, disillusioned by the system as seen in the first film.
Kabir is now a ‘freelancer’ who works as a contract killer for powerful individuals.
‘The man who doesn’t miss,’ a character describes Kabir as a hitman.
The plot kicks off in Japan where Kabir is on assignment to finish off a Japanese kingpin.
The very first scene has him looking bruised and bloodied, but his fiery eyes lit up the screens and tame even a riled-up wolf.
A Samurai-style fight scene ensues and Hrithik gets to show his katana-fighting skills in a sensational hero introduction shot.
Some powerful nations join forces and form a secret cartel named Kali that aims for global dominance. Their next big plan? To cause India’s downfall.
Kabir is hired to execute the next move, which puts him face-to-face with Colonel Luthra (Ashutosh Rana).
The Indian government deploys R&AW agent Vikram Chalapathi (Jr NTR) to stop Kabir.
After Tiger 3, there’s a change in the YRF Spy Universe.
The stories are darker and the characters, more complex.
When we first see Kabir here, we know he is carrying the weight of his past.
We see flashbacks that deepen his equation with many of the characters around him.
On the surface, it’s one solider against another. But deep down, it’s the fallout between individuals due to conflict in idealism versus realism, much like what we saw in Pathaan.
This shows that mainstream entertainer can not only be frivolous fun, but also thought-provoking. This aspect is highlighted in Raghavan’s script that finds a well-balanced flavour of patriotism, justifying the film’s Independence Day release.
Ayan Mukerji, taking over the directorial duties after the much hyped Brahmastra (2022), shows full commitment to this subject and it’s good that he doesn’t follow the Siddharth Anand playbook and brings his fresh perspective.
There are some smartly executed stunts, thrills, and explosions on a train, a ship, and an aeroplane, giving us a briskly-paced globe-trotting adventure as the story moves from one stunning location after another of Salamanca, Berlin, Amsterdam, Abu Dhabi, Davos and New Delhi.
Even the small flourishes in emotional scenes work just as good amid the action galore.
Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara’s BGM pumps adrenaline to the proceedings and wins major brownie points, but the same cannot be said for Pritam’s songs that remain strictly functional.
The face-off between Hrithik and Jr NTR is the main highlight of War 2.
Hrithik’s smouldering looks and cockiness is put to dazzling effect, while Jr NTR lends brooding intensity to his Vikram. His shirtless appearance in the entry sequence is an instant callback to RRR.
The film also finds a (pretty reasonable) way to show the brewing bromance that leads to their super-charged dance-off on Janaabe Aali in a well-orchestrated fan-service move.
How could it not be?
The tantalising prospect of Mass God and Greek God competing against in an epic dance-off gives us a total seeti-maar moment!
And when the big battle between two feuding rivals finally happens, it’s a total doozy!
Kiara Advani is introduced as substantial to the plot but her Kavya is at short-changed due to flimsy characterisation. She is reduced to a one-note love interest to Hrithik’s Kabir.
She looks stunning, and that remains the only takeaway from her character.
At almost three hours of length, War 2 also feels a bit too long and some flashbacks (the romantic portion with Kiara-Hrithik) wander off-topic at times. But the film quickly moves to its next eye-popping set piece and keeps the momentum going.
By the time we reach the conclusion, it invites some new people to the party that promises even bigger and better things for YRF Spy Universe.
Don’t miss the post-credit scene.
War 2 Review Rediff Rating:
