War (2019 film)

On Yash Chopra's birth anniversary and following the success of Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Yash Raj Films announced a new action film starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff.[10] Vaani Kapoor was finalised to play the female lead.[11][12] Two international action choreographers from Hollywood and Korea were employed to design action sequences.[13]

The climax scene of the film was shot on the Arctic Circle, becoming the first-ever Indian film to do so.[14] Siddharth Anand, the director of the film stated, "We want to push the benchmark of action movies that are made in our country. So, we are bringing two of the biggest action choreographers together to design some of the most outlandish and visually-spectacular sequences. On one hand, we have Andy R Armstrong from Hollywood and on the other, we have Mr SeaYoung Oh, who is an outstanding martial arts action choreographer from South Korea."[13]

Principal photography began in the second week of September 2018.[15] The film also has a dance off between the two stars in the song "Jai Jai Shivshankar".[16] The film schedule was wrapped up in the beginning of March 2019.[17] The film was shot in multiple exotic locations across Delhi, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Portugal, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia.[18][19] The bike chase sequence between the two stars was filmed in Portugal.[20] The car chase sequence which was the climax of the film was shot at the Arctic Circle.[21]

War opened with collection of ₹53.35 crore on its first day. It was the highest opening day collection for Hindi film.[9] On the second day it collected ₹24.35 crore, On the third day it collected ₹22.45 crore, taking its total collection to ₹100.15 crore.[24] War has already created six new records as the film reaches to 100 crore mark at the box-office.[25] The film entered the 100 Crore Club in three days of its release.[26] The extended opening weekend collection of the film at ₹166.25 crore is the highest opening weekend collection for any 2019 Bollywood film.[27] The film by crossing ₹200 crore in its opening week has become the fastest Bollywood film of 2019 to achieve the feat.[28]

With a gross of ₹378.46 crore from India and ₹97.04 crore from overseas, the film grossed ₹475.50 crore worldwide.[29] It is the highest-grossing Indian film of 2019.[26][30]

War received generally positive reviews from critics; on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 72% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10.[31]

Among positive reviews, Anupama Chopra said "War is a popcorn entertainer and you can't ask too many questions but if you're willing to suspend disbelief, the twists and turns exert a solid grip."[32] A writer for Bollywood Hungama gave the film four stars out of five, and said "War is an action entertainer which has style as well as enough twists and turns to keep the viewers engrossed. At the box office, the extended weekend, dazzling action, stunning international locales and stylish execution will ensure mammoth footfalls for the film".[33] Taran Adarsh gave it four stars out of five and called the film "[e]scapist cinema at its best".[34] Komal Nahta of Film Information opined, "The film could prove to be the starting of a new franchise for the Yash Raj Films banner".[35] Writing for India TV, Sonal gave the film three and a half stars out of five, writing, "Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff of Abbas Mustan kinda twists, turns, characters, situations, logic, gravity, physics, chemistry, and some Ekta Kapoor-esque tricks all tossed together to make a visually spectacular concoction".[36] Rajeev Masand of News18 gave the film two and a half out of five stars and said, "Both Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff fully commit to the action, bringing swag to the big stylish sequences and a visceral energy to the one-on-one punch-ups in the movie."[37]

Among the reviewers who granted the film mixed reviews, The Times of India rated it three stars out of five and felt the film had "lot of style, stunts and show, but lacking a solid storyline".[38] India Today rated it two and a half stars out of five and wrote, "War is a crowd-puller, but it isn't meant to further the cause of cinema".[39] Daily News and Analysis gave three stars out of five and wrote, "War seems more like a Hrithik Roshan and YRF come back than anything else".[40] Writing for The Indian Express, Shubhra Gupta granted the film two stars out of five, stating, "The chief trouble with War is that all the space is divvied up between Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff, that the poor baddies don't really get a chance".[41] Writing for Firstpost, Anna M. M. Vetticad gave two stars out of five, opining that the film "could have been a suspenseful, eyecatching, entertaining ride. But for its politics... [it] is a painfully condescending ode to Muslim loyalty to our vatan, an ode that is particularly cynical and offensive".[42] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film one and a half stars out of five and stated, "Powered by two loose-limbed and resolutely stone-faced male leads, Hrithik and Tiger, War is all style and no substance".[43]