WAR audience review: Hrithik Roshan tries his best to hold this deeply flawed film together

(Every Friday, Firstpost will be running an audience review of the big release of the week, in an attempt to answer the most fundamental question: should you watch this film or not?) What is the movie about? Touted as one of the biggest action entertainer of the year, WAR releases today. Starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff in the main lead, WAR is directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra. The story revolves around Khalid (Tiger Shroff) a young Indian soldier who is assigned to eliminate his former mentor Kabir (Hrithik Mission) who goes rogue after a failed mission. That is what leads to a WAR between the mentor and mentee. [caption id=“attachment_7438621” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Tiger Shroff and Hrithik Roshan in War[/caption] What works? Everybody knows the love and respect Tiger has for Hrithik and how big an idol Hrithik is for him. And Tiger has been very vocal about it all these years. He’s also been a good student as far as following Hrithik’s footsteps are concerned and Tiger has proved his worth when it comes to dance and action. In fact he’s better than Hrithik in comparison. So to have these two action stars paired together for the first time is definitely a crowd pulling move. Apart from the two main leads looking good with great bodies, there are a few good action scenes to look forward to and that is where it all ends. Vaani Kapoor had nothing much to do apart from the one song with Hrithik, with 15 minutes screen time. What doesn’t work? Two prominent setbacks: 1. Cinematography: It reminded me of my childhood days when I would use my dad’s handycam and he would ask me to keep my hands still and not spoil the video. I genuinely felt dizzy watching a few scenes. 2. Action - There have been a lot movies with grand action scenes made in Bollywood. And WAR is no exception. But how much action is too much action? As if Race 2 and Race 3 weren’t enough to make us laugh and shake our heads in disappoint, WAR enters that league of movies which question the makers sensibility. Unwanted flips and parkour by Tiger, unnecessary car and bike chase for miles, too many bodies being tossed in POP walls. After a point it just gets annoying. And people question Rohit Shetty’s style of action. Hrithik tried his best to hold the pace of the movie. The whistles and claps were happening only when he was on screen. Tiger is not overshadowed by Hrithik’s presence. That being said, he still doesn’t leave any impact with his acting skills. Verdict One can happily miss this film unless they’re a die hard fan of the main leads or if there is nothing else to watch on this holiday. I personally wouldn’t watch it again even on television or any OTT platform. It is sad that so much money is wasted in Bollywood over such mediocre attempts. Whereas new directors are winning hearts with small budget movies. I’d read an article which mentioned that YRF team waited for 5 months to get permission for the climax scene that is shot in the Artic Circle on an ice breaking cargo ship. Had they read the script and gone over the screenplay once again in those 5 months, I wouldn’t be having a WAR with words right now.