Sidharth Malhotra finally gets to perform loads of action in Yodha. It’s hard to predict the genre of Yodha, as it looks like a misfire of thriller, action, aerial action and suspense thriller combined. You will need a real life Yodha to save yourself from this disastrous show which crashes badly. The film has the same repetitive Indo-Pak story which we are witnessing nowadays in every 5th film. We had Fighter in January, Article 370 in February and now we have Yodha in March. All these films had one thing in common, i.e. India vs Pakistan rivalry, where Pakistan fights for Kashmir.
Yodha has unnecessary melodramatic segments with an overdose of jingoism. The entire plot is complicated which will confuse the viewers. There are many forced twists and turns which will make the audience scratch their heads. You will need a real life Yodha to save yourself from this disastrous show which crashes badly.
Arun Katyal (Sidharth Malhotra), a valiant member of the Yodha Task Force, created by his father, faces marital discord with his wife, Priya (Rashi Khanna). When a flight is hijacked, Arun’s failure leads to the loss of the nation’s top nuclear scientist and many lives, resulting in the shutdown of the task force. Despite his struggles with the system and his wife, Arun returns years later as a flight commander, facing an even tougher mission. Will Arun be able to succeed in this mission and will he be able to revive the Yodha Task Force? Watch Yodha to find out these answers.
Performance wise, there is not a single actor who has acted as a savior of this film. Sidharth Malhotra carries the same expressions in the whole film. His acting does not offer any variations. He looks partly good in some of the intense scenes, but the overall impact is very dull. Rashi Khanna looks beautiful throughout the film, but her ugly written character lacks beauty. This is a script which doesn’t give justice to her talent. Disha Patani looks glamorous. She gets to play the role of an air hostess and nails her part only in terms of looks. She looks like an air hostess, but her performance is dull. Her dialogue delivery is not upto the mark. She gets a character with a twist, which might surprise a certain section of audience. Tanuj Virwani won the hearts of the viewers with his portrayal of cricketer Vayu Raghavan in the web series Inside Edge. It was so amazing to see him back on-screen. He gets a limited screen presence and does a decent job. Sunny Hinduja plays the role of a villain. Sunny is the only actor in Yodha, who tries something different and adds various shades to his characters. He has impressed in the negative role. Ronit Roy appears in a blink and miss cameo. The remaining cast is average to decent.
The 2 pilots (directors), Sagar Ojha and Pushkar Ambre flying this flight (film), crash the flight badly due to their inexperience. The direction is full of flaws and is pathetic in many parts. There are a lot of loopholes and the film has left many questions unanswered.
The writing lacks intelligence. A thriller should have proper twists and turns, but Yodha has unnecessarily added twist after twist just to complicate things and confuse the audience. In the second half, there is no correlation between any scenes. The placement of scenes in the 2nd half is not any particular order and placed randomly.
The screenplay is extremely fast paced and gives an adrenaline rush to the audience. The first half raises the excitement and makes the audience wanting for more. The second half is a big letdown which kills the excitement. The first half is silent before the storm and the second half is the storm which destroys everything and leaves you with epic disappointment. The film succeeds in building the tension and creating a thrilling atmosphere but fails to keep the audience invested due to the lackluster writing. The film destroys logic like never before.
The music of Yodha is also disappointing. Zindagi Tere Naam song is enjoyable. The track has good lyrics and is shot in some of the beautiful locations. Shershaah has ‘Mann Bharrya’ and Yodha has ‘Qismat’. Qismat here acts as a situational track, but the magic which the original track had is really missing here. The remaining songs are easily passable.
The VFX looks very cheap on the big screen. The cartoonish effects are visible in some parts. I didn’t understand what was the use of continuously delaying the film, if the makers decided to serve us with this cheap project.
Karan Johar is making back to back average, mediocre and crap products which is tarnishing his image. He should not only spend money on the grandeur, but also on good stories.
There is a pattern which has been followed in Bollywood nowadays to sell cheap jingoistic products in the name of patriotism. Yodha uses the same formula where an army officer is suspended and is declared a traitor. He then redeems himself by succeeding in a mission and regains his lost image. People are fed-up with all these cheap tactics used by makers.
Yodha is like that flight which is surely going to crash badly, so buy a ticket accordingly. You will need a real life Yodha to save yourself from a catastrophe, as this Yodha will stab your eyes (rotten your mind) with its sword (pathetic execution). This is not a breathtaking action thriller, but surely a mind-numbing senseless action thriller. Skip it, so that you don’t feel like being hijacked by the makers.
Rating – 2/5*
