War is an Indian Hindi-language action thriller from 2019. The film was directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra from Yash Raj Films. It stars Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. The score was composed by Vishal–Shekhar, with lyrics written by Kumaar.
War depicts the story of an Indian soldier who is sent to eliminate his former mentor who has gone rogue.
The filming began in 2018 and concluded in March 2019. The movie was originally called Fighters, but the film's title was changed after the release of the teaser trailer to War.
War was theatrically released in India in 4DX in October 2019. It broke the record for the highest-opening day collection for a Bollywood film in India.
The movie is part of a Shared Universe known as the YRF Spy Universe. The movies Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai and Pathaan are all set in the same continuity as this one.
Not related to the movie War (2007) starring Jet Li and Jason Statham.
War provides examples of the following tropes:
- Big Bad Duumvirate: The villains of the movie are Rizwan Ilyasi, a businessman who wants to create another war between Pakistan and India, and Saurabh, a former RAW agent who is an associate of Ilyasi and Khalid's killer.
- Bittersweet Ending: Kabir foils Ilyasi's plan to destroy India's satellite defense system, and avenges the deaths of Naina and his team by killing Ilyasi and Saurabh. But the real Khalid is dead, though he is honoured posthumously and hailed as a hero. Also, Kabir is officially still a fugitive by the end of the film, though this is by choice - he plans to raise Naina's daughter Ruhi while using his rogue agent status to carry out missions he can't within the system.
- Celebrity Paradox: One of Kabir's teammates references Katrina Kaif. Not only has Kaif worked with Hrithik Roshan on other movies, she also plays Zoya in Ek Tha Tiger and its sequel Tiger Zinda Hai, both set in the same universe.
- Dead Person Impersonation: After Saurabh kills Khalid, he has plastic surgery to look like Khalid and hides his scars from the surgery with a mask.
- Deep Cover Agent: It is revealed that Kabir is still serving RAW with a mission to recover a lost document and managed to kill 3 of Ilyasi's associates before meeting Khalid, or shall we say, Saurabh disguised as Khalid.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Saurabh, post Magic Plastic Surgery looks identical to Khalid, but has some scars across his face. Col Luthra has a tiny scar across his right eye, possibly as a Shout-Out to Nick Fury, given he has a similar role in this universe.
- Kill and Replace:
- When the real Khalid chases Saurabh, it ended up with the real Khalid being killed by Saurabh, who takes his face and identity through plastic surgery, hiding the small scars from the surgery with a mask.
- It was revealed that Ilyasi killed his fourth associate and was disguised as him.
- Magic Plastic Surgery: Both Saurabh and Ilyasi use plastic surgery to go under the radar. Saurabh takes the identity of Khalid.
- Mr. Fanservice: Both Kabir and Khalid are played by Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff respectively, who are considered sex symbols. They both wear super tight, body hugging outfits that show off their toned physiques. Sometimes they also suffer from Clothing Damage to show off their muscles and in the final fight, Khalid (actually Saurabh) tears off his shirt and fights Kabir topless.
- Never Found the Body: Saurabh. And there is good reason for this, he has been alive and well and had taken the identity of Khalid, who was killed.
- Once More, with Clarity: The chase sequence in Marrakesh ends with Khalid going after Saurabh and getting shot, but surviving. After Kabir is poisoned, it is revealed that Khalid has been Dead All Along and the "Khalid" we have been following is really Saurabh, who underwent Magic Plastic Surgery.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Kabir survives his poisoning by Saurabh, who has been disguised as Khalid due to catching on to this. He realizes that "Khalid" is not who he says he is when he sees him shoot perfectly from his right side (the real Khalid lacks peripheral vision in his right eye owing to a bullying incident during his childhood) and drink alcohol on the houseboat while celebrating the mission's success (the real Khalid, being a devout Muslim, does not touch the stuff).
- The Reveal:
- The Khalid we see in the film is not the real deal. It was Saurabh who is an associate of Ilyasi's and a former RAW Agent who went rogue.
- Ilyasi kills one of his associates and steals his identity.
- Trailers Always Lie: The trailer shows Hrithik Roshan playing the Big Bad and Tiger Shroff playing The Hero. in the film, it's the polar opposite.
- This Cannot Be!: When Kabir confronts Ilyasi and Saurabh in the climax, this is Saurabh's reaction as he had poisoned Kabir, he didn't think he would survive.
- Workout Fanservice: Khalid, at one point, is seen practicing his moves on a punching bag, while wearing a wifebeater.
