WAR - When the best intelligence service agent Kabir (Hrithik Roshan) goes rogue, his most able protege Khalid (Tiger Shroff) must step in to nab him. War is about why Kabir has gone rogue and what point Khalid has to prove, that will dovetail into a mouth watering duel between the industry's two best action heroes, unfolding on screen.
Director Siddharth Anand repeats the feat from Bang Bang, taking us on a globe trotting tour from Delhi to Malta, Morocco, Iraq, Portugal, Italy and finally the Arctic Circle (keeping Australia as the final cherry topping). War showcases some mind numbing, yet prolonged action and chase sequences that often start with us gawking, and then turn into "oh, come on now!" exclamations, testing our patience often. Both male leads put up their smug best faces, and while Hrithik gets a few opportunities to emote, Tiger manages to retain a deadpan expression barring the introduction sequence. But there's nothing to mind as War promised to be a lavishly mounted, high octane, glossy and technically superlative thriller, which it pretty much fulfills, leaving little or no opportunity for emotive skills. The action is exaggerated, but then with Hrithik and Tiger, you obviously didn't expect a love story to take home fond memories either. There's a particular fight sequence that is remarkable, where you can almost draw a comparison with a musical symphony, both the stars complementing each other as if a melifluous duet were being rendered. In contrast, the climax action sequence is gigantic, crude, bloody and violent. Watching them both execute "Jai Jai Shiv Shankar" in a song and dance is like human body in visual poetry, malleable and fluid - it's all paisa vasool stuff.
So coming back to the verdict, War is a superlative action thriller that reinforces Hrithik Roshan's capabilities as the best action hero India has, as well as catapults Tiger Shroff into the big league. It's a treat for fans. On the story front, there's enough spice and suspense as pieces slowly fall into place and characters reveal their true identities. But it isn't impactful enough as neither the characters have any depth nor does the screenplay leave any impression. It's all glitz, action and glamour without substance.
