Siddharth Anand’s ‘Fighter’ takes a generic action template and makes it immensely watchable

The film stars Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor. The actors are in fine form, and the narrative is slick enough (and emotional enough) to tide you through its run time.

After War and Pathaan and now Fighter, I think it’s safe to say Siddharth Anand has found his groove. He takes simple, generic action templates. He garnishes them with hi-wattage stars and actors, plot twists that are just clever enough without being mind-blowing, and solid action set pieces. But above all, he retains the over-the-top-ness of the 1980s masala sensibility and updates it with restraint. Take the romance in Fighter, between Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, as Shamsher and Minal. You get all the staples of this track: the meet-cute, the deepening of the relationship, the sorrowful parting before the happy reunion. But nothing is overdone, and everything is of a piece with the film’s milieu. Instead of a duet, we get a club song. The hero and heroine are still up front and centre, but the rest of the team is also in there. So the “romance” seems to be happening along with – and not apart from – everything else.

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