Fighter review: Riveting aerial combat drama with 'India shining' moments
Siddarth Anand’s film, like the '2019 Uri', goes all out to collar you to nail this lesson on national pride; Hrithik, Deepika, Anil Kapoor slide into their roles with ease
What does the rousing cry 'Jai Hind' mean to all of us? When do you sing Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s evocative 'Vande Mataram' that never fails to stir up a whirl of emotions? (for a country some may argue that sadly one cannot recognise anymore).
Should you feel smug when a red-eyed, menacing terrorist is beaten to pulp and told that we Indians are the true ‘maliks’ (owners) of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir?
Bollywood blithely taps into this complex sentiment of nationalism once again in Siddarth Anand’s ‘Fighter’. Like its predecessor '2019 Uri: The Surgical Strike’, this film too goes all out to collar you to nail this lesson on national pride. A most timely one, or probably, it is incidental. Besides this chest-thumping that makes you want to sink your face into a bag of popcorn, 'Fighter' is an extremely well-made, slick action film.
Not a war film
It is not a war film since it is not based on any war that India has fought. 'Fighter' instead deals with the war that India seems to be constantly battling with – the war against terrorists.
A special Indian Air Force unit called Air Dragons, made up of the country’s top fighter pilots and based in a Srinagar air station, take them on. However, it is based on some true incidents that shook the nation like the 2019 Phulwama attack, India’s retaliatory move – the Balakot strike and the subsequent border skirmishes India and Pakistan engaged in that year.
Cohesive team
So, the film’s plot does not have some outlandish storyline like Anand’s previous outing, the 2023 ‘Pathaan’ with King Khan. Here, the story, revolving around a small band of Air Force officers comprising Patty (Hrithik Roshan), Deepika Padukone (Minni), Karan Singh Grover (Taj Gill), Akshay Oberoi as Basheer Khan and Anil Kapoor as their tough, non-nonsense Group Captain Rocky, remains tight-knit and cohesive.
For this reason, you are invested in the characters and what happens to them as they embark on a dangerous mission to cross the LOC and strike a terrorist camp in Balakot in Pakistan, and fly out.
Both Patty and Minni have ghosts that need to be laid to rest though they are at the top of their game. Grover is the lovable, funny guy and Oberoi, the passionate one. There are scenes of bonding between these officers before they take to the skies to fight the enemy in challenging situations. What's nice is that there are no scenes that seem stretched out probably with some tight editing by Aarif Sheikh.
The aerial combat scenes are especially riveting with the makers probably using advanced camera technology (for instance 'Top Gun: Maverick' was shot with 6K technology and CGI) and special effects to come up with these electrifying scenes. Apparently, real-life Indian air force cadets have worked in the film and some scenes were shot at Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam and Dundigal Air Force Academy in Hyderabad.
Music stands out
What also stands out in 'Fighter', for a change, is the music. The song ‘Mitti’ mixed with Vande Mataram as part of the chorus composed by Vishal & Shekhar is a hauntingly sad number set to a burial scene of a young martyr. It does make you teary-eyed. While the other number, 'Sher Khul Gaye' (tiger has been let loose) will probably become the next popular party song. Forget the fact that it is a celebratory dance number that the combat pilots break into at a nightclub after the successful strike in Balokot. Never mind, somehow, this does seem to fit in with the new ‘tigerish’ India!
In terms of acting, Hrithik, Deepika and Anil Kapoor slide into their respective roles with ease and don’t miss a beat. Whether they are flying Sukhois or down on the ground tackling emotive scenes as they witness bodies of bloody, young Indian soldiers after the attack on a CRPF convoy in Phulwama. Rishabh Sawney, who plays the wild-eyed terrorist Azhar Akhtar and Grover are effective in their own way.
Thankfully, the romance track between Hrithik and Deepika too is restrained and the couple’s sexy gyrations (you can see audience walking out) are all relegated to the end, and after the credits have rolled.
Terrorists, not Pak
In 'Fighter', director Anand to his credit takes great pain to make it clear that India's battle is against terrorists and not Pakistan. This seems to be a new turn in Hindi cinema. However, Pakistani generals are shown as helpless puppets of the terrorists.
There’s a line from a poem that is bandied about on how a 'coffin looks most beautiful when it is wrapped in the Indian tricolour', which is disturbing. It does seem as if martyrdom is being glorified here. The film is supposed to salute the matryrs who have lost their lives for their country. But that’s not what one takes away after watching 'Fighter'.
Watch out for a lesson on what Jai Hind means, and the pulsating background score to a fluttering Indian tricolour carried by a fetching Hrithik aboard a helicopter. A bit much, even for Bollywood standards.
