My Rating: 😍😍😍.5/5 (3.5 stars out of 5)
Listen up, jasoos! Review Rani is here to decode the biggest Hindi film release this Republic Day – Fighter. Is it just an extended Air Force recruitment video or does it actually pack some paisa vasool entertainment? Keep reading to find out!
Right off the bat, let me be blunt – Fighter is really just an excuse to ogle at Hrithik Roshan’s immaculate bone structure for 3 hours. The chiseled jaw, the hazel bedroom eyes, the sculpted abs – it’s all on full dishum dishum display as Hrithik suits up as hotshot pilot Shamsher “Patty” Pathania. Even when he’s in the cockpit, the camera can’t resist panning down to check out the goods. Is this a war movie or an Air Force themed calender shoot? You decide!
But I’ll give credit where it’s due – when Fighter isn’t busy objectifying its leading man, it does deliver some crazy awesome aerial stunts and combat scenes. The VFX team has truly outdone themselves, blending real fighter jets with CGI in a way that will make you want to enlist immediately. Director Siddharth Anand has a crazy obsession with giving us hyper-stylized action and while it gets dizzyingly over-the-top at times, you can’t deny it’s super shaandaar eye candy.
What isn’t so shaandaar though is the rehashed, cliched story of an arrogant but brilliant pilot seeking redemption while teaching the meanies across the border a lesson. Covering the Pulwama attack and Balakot strikes, the film’s jingoistic fist-pumping gets a bit much even for a desh-bhakt like me. Did we really need dialogue like “We will make you IOP – India Occupied Pakistan”? A little too1990s Sunny Deol for my liking.
Deepika Padukone is given the thankless task of playing stereotypical “paidaishee pilot” Minal who has to prove her worth to her regressive dad. While she gets some cool fighter pilot moments, their romance with Hrithik feels awkwardly tacked on. It’s the burgeoning bromance between Hrithik and Karan Singh Grover’s Sartaj that has more sizzling chemistry.
The villains are so cartoonishly evil that even a middling actor like Rishabh Sawhney seems to be struggling to make the diabolic Azhar Akhtar feel threatening. Only the wonderful Anil Kapoor manages to rise above the nonsensical lines as the gruff but golden-hearted Group Captain.
So in the end, Fighter is an overlong, underwhelming cross between a jingoistic fist-pumper and a launch vehicle for Hrithik’s towering sex appeal. If you’re in it just for the action and Hrithik’s anatomy, it’s a winner. If you want an actually intelligent, nuanced story – well, you’re better off just staying grounded, jasoos!
