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Fighter

‘Fighter’ Movie Review

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi, Ashutosh Rana and others

Music: Vishal - Sheykar

Background Score: Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara

Cinematography: Satchith Paulose

Producer: Siddharth Anand, Mamta Anand, Jyoti Deshpande, Ajit Andhare, Anku Pande, Ramon Chibb and Kevin Vaz

Story: Ram Chibb & Siddharth Anand

Screenplay: Ramon Chibb

Dialogues: Hussai Dalal – Abbas Dalal

Director: Siddharth Anand

After delivering super hit action flicks like ‘Bang Bang’, ‘War’ and ‘Pathaan’, director Siddharth Anand has arrived with another adrenaline-pumping action flick ‘Fighter’. His lucky hero Hrithik Roshan was roped in to play the lead role once again and Deepika Padukone is the heroine. The film has never-seen-before aerial action and the promotional content impressed everyone. Let us see how this much-awaited movie turned out.

Story:

Patty aka Shamsher Pathania (Hrithik Roshan) is a Squadron leader in the Indian Air Force. Patty is adventurous in nature and often plays with danger. He loses his fighter pilot girlfriend due to this nature. Her brother Rocky (Anil Kapoor) who is a Commanding Officer develops a dislike towards Patty after that. During the Indian Counter Attack after the Pulwama Attacks which led to the death of 40 soldiers, Patty’s over-confidence and aggressive nature resulted in two Indian soldiers getting captured by Pakistanis. Rocky’s anger bursts out on Patty as the latter gets demoted from a Fighter Pilot to an Aviation Academy officer. After working for some time, Patty decides to leave his job but unfortunate circumstances force Patty to get back in action. What did Patty do? How will he save the two Indian soldiers? These form the rest of the story.

Analysis:

Pakistan army attacking the Indian Army which leads to a strong counterattack from our country, the hero playing a key role in it by completing the mission despite all the hurdles is a common story in many Hindi films. Though the terrorist attacks have died down in India recently, Bollywood is still making films based on this storyline and getting good collections. But there is an expiry date for everything. After watching ‘Pathaan’, people were not impressed by ‘Tiger 3’ which had a similar plotline and was from the same action franchise. The viewers are fed up by the same kind of stories and this is the same reason why ‘Fighter’ did not have a lot of hype prior to its release. The audience entered to the theatres just because of Hrithik’s stardom and not because of the story. But Siddharth Anand managed to give them a well-packaged action entertainer. Though the plot had nothing new to offer, setting the story up in the air gave a fresh feeling. The makers showcased Air warfare in ‘Fighter’ which was not been heavily explored in Indian cinema till date. The team made it with good quality and the emotions worked well too. On top of everything, they got Hrithik Roshan who carried the film on his shoulders and it made ‘Fighter’ a Paisa Vasool entertainer.

Making the audience feel for the characters and bringing the patriotic emotion is key for these kinds of films to succeed. The struggles of the soldiers, their bravery and valor, the sacrifice of their families and the risking of their lives for this country are the emotions which everyone gets moved by. No matter how many times they showcase them, people get emotional and Siddharth Anand made these work big time in ‘Fighter’. The emotional connection makes things smooth and proceedings don’t bore you at all. More than the hero, he managed to bring a lot of emotion through the heroine’s character. Her storyline and some scenes will leave you in tears. They are some of the biggest highlights in the movie and stand on par with high-octane action sequences. The inner conflict of the hero’s character is also well explored. The guilt feeling and how he overcomes it are showcased pretty well.

People expect adrenaline-pumping scenes from action flicks. ‘Fighter’ has many such scenes. There is only one hand-to-hand combat scene and it is decent. There are many thrilling sequences in the movie that are set in the air as the main characters are fighter pilots. The three major action blocks work wonderfully and Siddharth Anand did a great job of giving the best visuals within our budget. Any film needs a strong villain in order to make the protagonist victorious. The stronger the villain, the bigger the success. But it is the villain character which falters big time in ‘Fighter’. The role is not written properly and casting a relatively unknown face too worked against the movie. A hero of Hrithik’s stature needs a stronger challenge but the villain doesn’t pose any theatre rather than looking serious all the time. The proceedings are quite predictable from the word go and we can expect what is about to happen. It is the presentation and performance that elevates a lot of scenes. Also, some scenes look highly unconvincing and logic goes for a toss at many places. After all the adrenaline-pumping moments throughout the film, one expects a better climax but the cliched manner in which the final sequence is made disappoints the audience a bit. ‘Fighter’ has its share of flaws and had some stereotypical moments too. The weak villain character and regular story are the minus points but ‘Fighter’ definitely impresses you after a two-and-a-half-hour watch.

Performances:

Hrithik Roshan gave one of the best performances in ‘Fighter’. He fits the role of a fight pilot to the T. He is very stylish and his action prowess comes out during the emotional sequences. His maturity and subtle acting works well for this movie. It is a feast for the fans to see him in such a role and Hrithik Roshan delivers in every aspect whether it is the looks or emotions or dancing. Deepika Padukone did very well and Minal becomes a memorable character in her career. The creators wrote her character wonderfully and Deepika does complete justice to it.

Anil Kapoor shows his experience in the commanding officer role. His intensity adds a lot of depth to the character. Karan Singh Grover and Ashutosh Rana did well too. The rest of the actors are fine.

Technicians:

Vishal-Sheykhar’s songs are okay but the lead actors’ screen presence elevates them. Sujalam Sufalam works well with the film’s proceedings. The background is superb as it gives goosebumps in some parts. The music is quite stylish in this movie. Sachit’s cinematography is a major highlight. He did a fantastic job and the visual effects are amazing as well. The production values are quite right and it can be seen in each and every frame. Director Siddharth Anand proved that he is one of the best in making stylish action thrillers once again. He picked a regular story and set it up in a different backdrop which worked big time. The action sequences were designed in a terrific manner and the strong emotions connected with the audience. He managed to engage the audience throughout.

Verdict: ‘Fighter’ - Action Bonanza With Some Flaws!

Rating: 2.5/5