Fighter brings some slick aerial action sequences but also infuses lots of melodrama and chest-thumping, while Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone deliver fine performances.
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor, Rishabh Sawhney, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Talat Aziz, Ashutosh Rana, Sanjeev Jaiswal
Where to watch: Theatres
Rating: 3 stars
Siddharth Anand’s Fighter can be best described as a film with an identity crisis. It does not know what it wants to be. One moment, it is a slick aerial action film with dogfights that are definitely whistle-worthy, aided by some smooth score. The very next second, it descends into the Sunny Deol, John Abraham-territory of patriotic cinema, discarding slickness for over-the-top sloganeering. In the hands of a less experienced director, this film could have become a khichdi of sorts. Anand saves it, but just barely. It’s actually the film’s star that makes it more than watchable. Hrithik Roshan’s screen presence and performance elevates the film with some able support from Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor.
Fighter takes us into a semi-fictional retelling of India’s response to the Pulwama terror attack in 2019. Air Dragons, a fictitious elite unit of the Indian Air Force, led by Group Captain Rakesh Singh (Anil Kapoor) is tasked with assisting in the retaliatory Balakot air strike. But after two of their men are captured behind enemy lines, the rest – led by star fighter pilot Shamsher Pathania (Hrithik) must lead a daring mission in PoK to get them back.
Fighter is Uri on steroids with the typical Siddharth Anand touch to it. The director's transition from the world of Salaam Namaste and Anjaana Anjaani to churning out high-octane action thrillers has been one of the more baffling genre switches I have seen in Bollywood (the other is RGV’s descent into whatever he is doing these days). But for Anand, it has been a step up. He seems to have found his groove in this genre, delivering films that have essetially the same formula but are sufficiently different to be individual entities.
In Fighter, Anand takes that formula to the skies, stitching some visually impressive aerial action sequences and dogfights that are among the best Indian cinema has been able to conjure. There are some impractical sequences that are the result of cinematic liberty but then this is commercial cinema, not a documentary. Fighter takes time to take off. The first half is dialogue-heavy, gets corny at times, and spends a bit too much time in setting up. Thankfully, the second half makes up for it. It is more engaging, more action-packed, but also quite loud.
The dialoguebaazi is cheesy and frankly the endless banter between Indian and Pakistani pilots in the middle of a dogfight was annoyingly cringe. Also, it’s high time Indian writers rise above the janaab stereotypes of depicting Pak top brass. It’s playing to the gallery at its finest. Once you look past the corny dialogue, Fighter invites you with some well-crafted emotional moments. Some of the scenes in the second half do tug at your heart with the interaction between Hrithik and Ashutosh Rana’s characters right up there.
Hrithik Roshan is clearly the star of the show. His screen presence alone is enough to carry the film but he brings in some fine moments peformance-wise too, particularly in the more tender scenes with Rana and Sanjeeda Sheikh, both of whom are nice additions to the cast. Deepika Padukone once again does a fine job playing another strong female character. She is making the space her own. Anil Kapoor makes sure that his character is not relegated to the background either. The antagonist Rishab Sawhney has been presented with style. While he has little to do on screen apart from look menacing and be as tropey as possible, he brings the intimidation and threat of his character to the fore effectively. It’s a good start to what should be a promising career.
But despite all the embellishments, Fighter remains predictable. The plot is wafer thin, and anyone who has seen enough Hindi films (or Top Gun), knows what the arc of our hero will be. We know which surprise is hidden where as it is all too formulaic. It’s all hidden smartly under a layer of smart packaging. The tone shift every 15 minutes is jarring too, as Siddharth Anand tries to make a film that is both slick and plays to the gallery at the same time. The end result is neither here, nor there, but still entertaining, to an extent at least.
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 "Fighter stars Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, and Anil Kapoor")
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