Jigra

What could have been one of the year's most heartfelt films unfortunately settles as a popcorn entertainer with technical brilliance, but ultimately offering little to no food for thought.

That said, it still justifies its ticket price with numerous strengths-well-fleshed-out characters brought to life by applause-worthy performances, a riveting score that elevates the film, and Hollywood-level art direction making full use of the Dharma budget. The brilliant use of colors adds a nostalgic - campy vibe. Flawless editing lets the scenes breathe, but also tightens the story's grip when the script demands. The fast pacing leaves no room for dullness throughout.

However, all these strengths are thrown out the window in the final act. While the film's technical brilliance kept me engaged in the theater, in retrospect I realised that it merely acted as a bandaid on a lackluster script.

The film suffers from repeated exposition, convenient plot devices, and a tonal conflict where forced comedic moments undermine the story's serious elements.

At one point in the third act, a character essentially declares, "I'm going to commit war crimes and look cool while doing so, and you won't question it." This sudden shift fails miserably. Characters break out of their established personalities, and the film loses all moral grounding, embracing and glorifying war and terrorism. The once-grounded brother-sister story becomes over-the-top and comical, with characters inexplicably mastering military weapons and vehicles with no prior experience. It really feels like it went big, for the sake of going big. You can count plot holes on both hands and still run out of fingers.

The first half is exceptional, with few sequences that rank among the best this year. But the jarring finale completely undermines the journey that led upto it.