Patriotism, Bollywood & Timing

In India, patriotism makes its brief and custom presence felt during August and January every year. The masses mechanically add the tricolor to their palette for a few days, before going back to the grayscale life revolving around 'roti kapda makaan'. 

You might argue for or against an opinion that cinema holds a significant sway over public discourse in India (remember Ramadhir Singh's iconic lines in GoW?). 

But is a movie or TV show supposed to make you love your country more, or again? This year, Bollywood brings War 2 to you - newest entrant of the YRF spyverse; watch and judge for yourself! 

Why You Might Watch War 2

Ahh tricky but you are likely to watch this if you - 

a) are a fan of the human like Greek god that is HR 

b) are eager to see how NTR Jr. fared in his Bolly debut 

c) are non-judgmental about homegrown action flicks 

d) have money for tickets and nothing better to do

Setting the Stage

The movie starts with Kabir Dhaliwal (Hrithik Roshan) gatecrashing a mafia buffet inside a shrine somewhere exotic in Japan, throwing charged up one liners that sound drafted by a 5-year old, and killin bad guys without much fuss - point being he's still the badass as he was 6 years ago back in War 1. 

Under orders, Kabir infiltrates a cartel of big bad businessmen (tepidly named as Kali???) with sinister designs on India, but in the process he ends up doing the unthinkable which makes RAW put a target on his back. 

Enter the Challenger

The plotline then introduces NTR Jr. as Vikram Chelapathi, another hardass RAW agent who is endorsed by the Defence Minister (Varun Badola) for the assignment to hunt down Kabir (merit alone doesn't cut it when you climb up top). 

NTR's initial set of dialogues are corny at best - but he does look sharp when he's not talking. 

A new RAW chief, Vikrant Kaul (Anil Kapoor) is also shown to swoop in and seize the initiative to make his mark (although for most parts he looks like Majnoo bhai if he were having a decade long hangover). 

Flashbacks, Bromance & Boredom

Where the movie really falls apart is in its bid to set the rising action - the story pivots towards a flashback and brings out the intertwined history of both Kabir and Vikram - morphing into a half-baked Karan Arjun kinda redux. 

Both share a weird 'love you hate you' type bromance that moves far away from the actual topic at hand and leaves you with a bored set of eyes. 

Although the action sequences feature frames such as the Yas Marina circuit, there is little else of note to take away.

Kiara Advani, VFX & Final Verdict

Been more than 24 hours since I watched this, but am still trying to figure out how and what did Kiara Advani actually contribute to the movie? Her character, Kavya Luthra, is an IAF officer who curiously parachutes her way into a RAW case team without any authorisation or paperwork. 

She's inserted as a romantic interest of Kabir, and barely has a ~10 min appearance coupled with a sum total of 5+ lines that will make you forget everything else barring the lemon yellow-lime green bikini shot. 

The VFX used in War 2 isn't great and often feels low budget, and the 'VR interface' used by Kali to relay messages is comical at best. Cinematography is passable, and bar 'Aavan Jaavan' there is not a lot when it comes to soundtrack. 

All in all this feels like a forced sequel meant to needlessly extend the 'spyverse' saga and milk money while HR is still in a mint condition.

Going forth, I intend to classify any such content as KYBO - Keep Your Brains Out.