'Fighter' review: Siddarth Anand impresses with visual spectacle
Siddharth Anand has been treating movie buffs on Republic Day back-to-back. After his 2023 blockbuster hit Pathaan, the director is back with another actioner Fighter, which was released on Thursday. With the backdrop of a real-life incident, some aerial action sequences, and meaty performances, Fighter makes for an out-and-about Bollywood masala entertainer, but not without a few misses here and there. We review.
It begins with the Pulwama attack
A new air force unit called Air Dragon is created against a terror threat to the Srinagar base camp. Led by Rocky (Anil Kapoor), it includes Patty (Hrithik Roshan), Minni (Deepika Padukone), Taj (Karan Singh Grover), and others. It then cuts to the deadly Pulwama attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed, leading to India's Balakot airstrike. What follows next is another air battle between the neighboring countries.
Watch out for Roshan and Padukone's sizzling chemistry
This is the first time that Roshan and Padukone have been paired together. Their chemistry seems to strike a chord. From their sarcastic jibes at each other to the soothing glares, the romance that blooms in between, and the emotionally charged scenes while dodging the bullets, they offer a new Hindi movie pairing that makes you want to watch more of them.
Roshan, Padukone deserve films like 'Fighter'
The beauty of Fighter lies largely in its casting. Whether it's Kapoor, Roshan, or Padukone as the lead cast, or Grover, Akshay Oberoi, or antagonist Rishabh Sawhney in their bits, the actors have played their roles well. However, Roshan is the brightest star here, proving that he's best suitable for such a genre. Padukone, on the other hand, deserves a solo actioner.
Unfortunately, it offers nothing new in terms of writing
The dialogue writing is the weakling here. In terms of going high on the patriotism aspect, it failed to create any impact with its dialogues. The lines such as "Unko dikhana padega ki baap kaun hai" aren't something that has not been heard before. It lacks the influence that films like Uri: The Surgical Strike had on the audience.
The second half gets a bit stretched
The first half of the movie has been kept tight, but the same could not be said about the post-interval scenes. Leave alone the fact that Fighter is overly predictable, it gets too stretchy in the second half with a few emotional scenes that take you away from the aerial action. It only jumps back into action with the climax.
Anand's action gets better than that in 'War,' 'Pathaan'
One place where Anand deserves applause is for its action. From Minni and Patty's entry scenes to the dogfight between the Indian and Pakistan fighter planes, and the hand combat scene between Patty and the terrorist, the action scenes do deserve praise. The visual work with the fighter jets and the chopper stunts is fascinating and will leave you wanting more.
If typical Bollywood actioner is your taste, then go ahead
The film was released ahead of Republic Day, eyeing to cash in on the long weekend. Fighter may fly low on writing but sure takes flight with performance and stunning camera work. Anand should have skipped its 3D release. Also, don't miss out on Sharib Hashmi's cameo, the only bit where the humor works. Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
