By: Honey Agarwal / Amit KumaR Agarwal
Fighter is a film based on Indian armed forces, Indian Air Force to be precise inspired by surgical strikes and Balakot air-strikes.
Shamsher Pathania alias Patty (Hrithik Roshan) is a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force and is the best fighter-pilot as the film tells us. Rakesh Jaisingh alias Rocky (Anil Kapoor) is his senior and he dislikes Pathania’s ways of working. Minal Rathore alias Minni (Deepika Padukone) is chopper-pilot in the force, eager to prove that women are no less than uniformed-men. Azhar Akhtar (Rishabh Ravinder Sawhney) is a terrorist, working hand-in-glove with Pakistan out to destroy India.
The narrative then weaves in the story, real-life incidents of Pulwama terrorist attack and Balakot air strikes; as Patty and his team go on to annihilate terrorists.
While the film is good, it lacks the mass-pleasing elements that make a film, blockbuster. The biggest elemnet of such a film are it's dialogues, here dialogues by Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal’s and additional dialogues by Biswapati Sarkar are plain ordinary. Of course one or two dialogues are punchy like the IOP - India Occupied Pakistan, but they are far away and too few.
Patriotic films that are blockbusters conventionally appeal to the
masses. Fighter, because of the title and the treatment is more on the classy side.
As such the sensibilities of the film are also metro or big-centers
appealing. The business will not be like Pathaan, Gadar 2 or Animal as
it won't do 500cr; but it is a hit film nevertheless.
Screenplay, many times seem disjointed. For example, when Pakistan PM says that free the Indian pilots, why is one pilot killed is not answered? Or the flight landing scene of NJ, though well-executed doesn't fit well in the narrative. In fact, the entire Training Academy, Hyderabad sequence seems force fit. Moreover, screenplay needed bit of rework.
The biggest flaw of the film is hero is shown subdued in the entire film, he only rises in the climax and he gets thunderous applause when he does. There should've been atleast two sequences in pre-interval as well. Or the hit song, Ishq Jaisa Kuch. What is the point of putting the song in the end, when half of the audiences have left. Instead, the scene where Deepika invites Hrithik over for coffee, could have followed by a kiss, lead in to song. Shot of sun rising, wailing of the air-siren and the film could-have continued. Simple script-doctoring.
Siddharth Anand's direction is good but not outstanding, reason is a weak script. Hrithik Roshan looks amazing, more so in the song Ishq Jaisa Kuch. Deepika Padukone after Pathaan, again performs her role very convincingly. Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi lend good support. Rishabh Ravinder Sawhney as Azhar Akhtar is fair, though a film of this canvas needed a bigger villain; Pathaan wouldn;t have been Pathaan without John Abraham, right?
In spite of its positives and negatives, the film is a sure-shot watch on big-screen because
- It is for the entire family
- In spite of patriotism it steers clear of jingoism
and most importantly
- For the never-before seen aerial-action scenes on the Indian screens, which all said and done, can never be enjoyed on any OTT screening. Book your tickets now for this Fighter