For the past few years, director Siddharth Anand has delivered some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian cinema, including last year’s record breaker Pathaan. His previous collaborations with star Hrithik Roshan — Bang Bang (2014), Bollywood’s remake of Tom Cruise’s Knight And Day, and action extravaganza War (2019) — have led both to critical acclaim and box office success.
As such, it stands to reason that for their third collaboration, Anand and Roshan know exactly what their public demands from them: spectacle, spectacle and even more spectacle. Oh, and Roshan’s rippling torso at every opportunity.
On paper, Fighter looks like a straight-up attempt to capitalize on the success of Top Gun: Maverick. However, while Maverick went out of its way to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, with its ‘insert your own enemy here’ approach, Fighter wears its jingoistic patches proudly on its jumpsuit.
Roshan and Deepika Padukone once again prove why they are among the biggest names in Indian cinema.
The plot is simple: An evil terrorist group (you know they’re evil — their leader has a red eye!) is attempting to cause trouble in Kashmir and is manipulating the guileless Pakistani military to meet its own goals – which, naturally, is the destruction of the Indian armed forces. Only our brave pilots stand in their way. Will their love of country and dedication to each other save the day? You already know the answer.
Subtle, Fighter is not. You might think you're used to shameless American flag-waving in action films, but even Hollywood rarely puts a literal flag-waving scene in to hammer the nationalistic point home. Such overt patriotism will no doubt be jarring to Western audiences and put some off, but it’s hard not to be won over by the audacious action and the sheer charisma of Fighter’s leads.
Top Gun: Maverick famously put its actors in the cockpits for certain scenes, and while Fighter is clearly made with the assistance and support of the Indian Air Force, its budget is a fraction of its American counterpart. None of that stops Anand from crafting edge-of-your-seat dogfighting sequences — but where Maverick went for a sense of verisimilitude, Fighter is more likely to remind you of the finale of Hot Shots! Physics have been firmly ejector-seated from proceedings here.
Your enjoyment for this sort of nonsense is always going to be dependent on the strength of the leading actors, and Roshan and Deepika Padukone once again prove why they are among the biggest names in Indian cinema, with smouldering looks, out-of-this-world dance moves and an ability to nail emotional scenes despite the hackneyed, over-the-top dialogue. Throw in solid support from veteran Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) and a banging final dance sequence over the end credits, and you’ll leave the cinema with a smile on your face — in spite of the bitter nationalist taste in your mouth.