Director : Siddharth Anand
Writers : Siddharth Anand,Ramon Chibb,Abbas Dalal
Stars : Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan,Anil Kapoor
Politics simultaneously are and aren’t the thing in “Fighter,” a Bollywood military drama that takes heavy inspiration from “Top Gun: Maverick.” Released in time for India’s Republic Day, “Fighter” explicitly recalls both the 2019 Pulwama attack that, in real life, left 40 Indian military police dead in Kashmir, as well as the successive Balakot air strike that, depending on who you believe, either killed no one or a bunch of anti-Indian extremists. Using these real-life events as the pretext for a saber-rattling crowd-pleaser isn’t surprising given the rise of nationalist sentiments both in Hindi-language pop cinema and Modi-era India.Then again, surprises aren’t the main draw in “Fighter,” whose creators stick closely to formulaic story beats and other Bollywood-centric melodramatic tropes.
Much of the movie focuses on the camaraderie and romance that unites two exemplary Indian Air Force pilots, played by co-leads Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, and a few of their comrades. “Fighter” still inevitably concludes with an overheated stand-off in Pakistani Occupied Kashmir, as well as a teasing threat that the next fight could be in, “Indian Occupied Pakistan.” “Fighter” was a hit this past weekend, despite being banned from theatrical release across the gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates.The makers of “Fighter” attempt a few standard dodges, as far as their characters’ motivating nationalism. It’s not the Pakistani people who are vilified, according to the movie, but rather a group of India-hating terrorists, led by unapologetic leader Azhar Akthar (Rishabh Sawhney), and oh yeah, the Pakistani Air Force, since they let Akhtar’s group cross the Line of Control that separates Indian and Pakistani territory.
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