Fighter Review: A Fairy-Tale Flight Of Fancy With Fantastic Photography

Hollywood has made many great films about fighter flying for decades. In recent times, Top Gun (1986) set the benchmark rather high, but couldn¡¯t quite re-create the magic in Top Gun: Maverick (2022).

In Bollywood, except for Govind Nihalani¡¯s Vijeta (1982), all other attempts, notably Bhuj and Tejas, just crash landed.

Well, here is a refreshing change, our own Desi Top Gun that zooms past Maverick, and does it in style!

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The story is based on the Pulwama terror attack and India¡¯s retribution in Balakot, but also includes some titbits from military aviation history like the pilot killed in captivity and fighter planes masking themselves from enemy radar by staying in close formation with a big transport plane.

Hritik is handsome as ever and looks good in IAF uniform. With his sculpted physique and dashing style, he easily outshines Tom Cruise. But at his actual age 50, if he¡¯s still a Squadron Leader, his career is pretty much down the drain!

Deepika looks lovely, yet holds her own as a strong and ambitious working woman.

Their pair has great chemistry between them, and some dialogues are witty.

The bespectacled villain, though, despite his red eye, looks rather like an HR manager in an obscure company instead of a dreaded terrorist.

Supporting cast is competent, and among them, Anil Kapoor¡¯s presence is commanding. Well, after all, he is the Commanding Officer of the special unit!

All those pilots in the movie have a lot of attitude, but their behaviour is charming and endearing.

What stands out above them all is the captivating cinematography. Aerial action is surprisingly well done, cleverly mixing actual photography with VFX and CGI.

It is not at the level of Avatar, for we can make out some fakes, but still quite good for Bollywood.

There are a few feet tapping tunes, though you may not remember the songs later.

A little sentimentality in the story fits in nicely with all the action, without going overboard.

The patriotism is palpable, but subtle in the beginning. Sample this quote:

?????? ??? ??? ??????? ???? ??,
?? ??? ?? ???? ??? ???? ????
????? ??? ???? ??, ???? ?? ???? ??, ???? ??? ??,
?? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ???? ????!

That inspired even the now sceptical soldier in me.

But later in the movie, the jingoism gets a bit too boisterous and repetitive.

The biggest problem I found was the interminable dialogue in the middle of air combat! Who can ever chat with the pilots of heavily armed enemy fighters when they¡¯re firing missiles at you?

Other than that, there are many small technical and tactical errors, plus a few mistakes in the IAF etiquette, but they get overshadowed by the brilliant photography and great special effects.

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At 2 hours and 46 minutes, the movie seems a tad too long. A few more cuts could have made it crisper.

Overall, Fighter is definitely worth watching, in IMAX 3D if you can.

I had a 10-year-old enjoying the film with me, and he forgot to eat the popcorn.

Me too!

The writer is a former fighter pilot of the IAF and is now a commercial airline pilot. He is the author of three novels and many blog posts, available at www.avinashchikte.com.