Yash Raj Films’ War 2 (UA) is the second in the War franchise. Kabir (Hrithik Roshan) and Vikram (Jr. NTR) are both working for/against India. At times, it appears that Kabir is pro-India while at other times, it seems that Vikram is the nationalist. Incidentally, Kabir and Vikram are childhood friends. Kabir has murdered Colonel Luthra (Ashutosh Rana) for which RAW is baying for his blood. Vikrant Kaul (Anil Kapoor) is in charge of the mission to nab Kabir. Vikram and Colonel Luthra’s daugther, Kavya (Kiara Advani), are in Vikrant Kaul’s team.
Aditya Chopra’s story is not up to the mark. It is not just confusing but also convoluted. Shridhar Raghavan’s screenplay is equally convoluted and long-drawn. The first half is dull. The portion related to childhood of Kabir and Vikram (as soon as the second half starts) is very boring and irritating. Further the build-up of the friendship is so below the mark that the audience never feel for either of them and not even for their friendship. Hence all references to their friendship coming to an end — whenever that happens — fail to touch the heart. The screenplay is also very confusing and raises questions in the viewers’ minds, which remain unanswered. However, two sequences stand out: one, relating to the car atop the moving train; two, the fight sequence in mid-air. Climax should have been far better. Abbas Tyrewala’s dialogues are good only at a few places; for the rest, they are extremely ordinary.
Hrithik Roshan, as Kabir, does well but there is nothing outstanding in his performance. Jr. NTR, as Vikram, gives a good account of himself but he, too, does not shine. Kiara Advani gets very limited scope as Kavya. She looks ravishing and does well. Anil Kapoor does not have a role befitting his stardom, as Vikrant Kaul. He, however, acts ably. Ashutosh Rana is okay in the brief role of Col. Luthra. Varun Badola is alright in the role of Vilasrao Sarang. K.C. Shankar, as Gautam Gulati, is unimpressive; a star with an image was needed for the character. Soni Razdan (as Nafisa), Kwon Sung Young (as the Japanese mob boss), Yoon Seok Jin (as the Japanese informer), Reshma Bombaywala (as Contractor), Swati Verma (as the award announcer), Ajit Koshi (as General Kazi), Mahesh Pillai (as officer no. 1 with Kavya), Benedict Garett (as Alexis), Vijay Vikram Singh (as military officer no. 1), Shah Zain Alam (as military officer no. 2), Anupam Bhattacharya (as the naval commander), Dumani (as Michael Barbossa), Siddharth Sibal (as the naval officer no. 1), Kashish (as the soldier with Vikram), Gurlal, Imroz Maur and Karan Kishore (all three as RAW agents), Lorenzo Biso (as Terry) and Arista Mehta (as Ruhi) lend routine support.
Ayan Mukerji’s direction is not up to the mark. Although he has made a film with a large canvas, his narration fails to hold the audience’s attention. Pritam’s music comprises two good songs — Janab-e-Ali and Aavan jaavan. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics are okay. Bosco Leslie Martis’ choreography is eye-filling. Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara’s background music ought to have been better. Benjamin Jasper’s cinematography is outstanding. Action and stunt scenes (choreographed by Spiro Razatos, Franz Spilhaus, Anl Arasu, Oh Sea Young, Craig Macrae and Sunil Rodrigues) are breathtaking. The action is one of the high points of the film. Production designing (by Rajat Poddar and Amrita Mahal Nakai) is of a very good standard. Aarif Sheikh’s editing leaves something to be desired.
On the whole, War 2 is too ordinary a fare to be loved by the audience. It is far from being a worthy successor to War. It will, therefore, do below-average business.
Released on 14-8-’25 at Inox (daily 18 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Yash Raj Film Distributors. Publicity: excellent. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening ranged from dull to fair.