A basic story, tight screenplay, and a good execution is what audience want to spend their money on. As several powerful recent examples fight to take the top spot to justify the phrase above, there have been a few exceptions as well. Whether they prove the rule or not (as they're exceptions), some of them deserved more praise than they ever got, and one such example is the Sidharth Malhotra starrer action flick Yodha, which completes a year of it's release today. The film also starred Raashi Khanna, Disha Patani, Kritika Bharadwaj and Ronit Roy in supporting roles.
Basic Plot- Army officer Arun Katyal (Sidharth Malhotra) tries to save a hijacked plane, and also the face of Yodha task force, a special intelligence unit created by his father Major Surender Katyal (Ronit Roy).
Positives
Sidharth Malhotra
The film heavily relies and peacefully rests on the strong shoulders of Sidharth Malhotra, who almost carries this film single handedly. No doubt there are genuine good moments in the film which are really enjoyable but when things get a bit more cliched or confusing, Sidharth Malhotra comes to the rescue. It's his screen presence that keeps the film tight and hence, the audience remain glued to the screen. It's quite refreshing as well to watch a light-bearded Sid Malhotra take on bad guys and fight inside cramped places in a plane, wearing a coat. Very spy-ish isn't it? Apart from the action scenes, Sid delivers in other scenes as well. Several drama scenes are well crafted and Sidharth performs well. The performance isn't very dynamic as such, but it's good to see him not being carried away only by action, instead, show some skills as well. The supporting cast performs just fine, nothing really impressively out of the box about that.
Direction, Screenplay and Action
The film is written and directed by debutant writer-director duo Sagar Ambre and Pushkar Ojha, who also happened to have assisted director Siddharth Anand in the 2023 blockbuster Pathaan. One can easily spot the similarities in the overall look and feel of both the films (Yodha and Pathaan). The tight screenplay, Pathaan-esque stylized action scenes, one take sequences and a Sid Anand like execution proves the fact that the writer-director duo has been able to learn the craft from their mentor! The occasional use and a good placing of humor and emotions are commendable additions. Songs are well placed and do not hamper the screenplay. The inclusion of thrill to set up an action scene is evident in the film which lends an organic edge to this otherwise superficial actioner. The overall screenplay by the duo (although confusing at times in the second half) feels like a linear writing from Shridhar Raghavan, which somehow manages to hit the spot nevertheless. The action by Craig Macrae and Sunil Rodrigues is well choreographed and stylized, and looks like something from a high-budget film. Such action is rarely seen in small budget films like Yodha, but producer Karan Johar has managed to pull that off it seems. The action is quite pleasing to watch and is significantly amplified by the cinematography (Jishnu Bhattacharjee) and editing (Aarif Sheikh), which makes up for a meaty entertainment and bgm (John Stewart Eduri).
Underwhelming Aspects
Bits and Pieces
The film could have been more cohesive overall, which becomes all the more clear once you notice the screenplay arc in the second half. The events in the second half are not very clear, and the haphazard nature diminishes the overall gravity of the scenes. There has been an effort by the director duo to throw the audience off the track by creating a misdirection, but that seems to have gone wrong at places. Although the revelation scenes are fine, it's primarily up to the audience to understand why certain things happened because there aren't any justifications (for some scenes) whatsoever. While Sid Anand's students have carried out their master's expertise quite well, I'm quite let down by the fact that the director duo has followed their master's weaknesses as well. The lack of a strong and imposing villain is strongly felt in the film. Although there is a twist in the tale regarding the main villain, a more prominent actor for that role could have helped the film a lot. The chemistry between Sid Malhotra and Rashii Khanna is straight away flat, and you know for sure that the chemistry is not what the makers are interested in. The climax (although executed nicely) is politically dubious and it's weird to see how the debutant director duo included their names into the list of Bollywood directors who want to demolish the Pakistan Parliament! Quite hilarious, isn't it?
Conclusion
By no stretch of imagination is Yodha a perfect film. Neither does it boast an out of the box story, nor does it try to do something different. Yodha is your no nonsense action entertainer based on the tried and tested 'brains out' formula, that guarantees full on entertainment. Keeping the IMDB ratings aside, it's a fine take on action films which deserved a lot of praise in spite of being a roller-coaster ride. People did not turn up into the theatres which resulted in the film's 'below average grosser tag, that affected the director duo Sagar Ambre and Pushkar Ojha more than anyone as they haven't got a single film to direct since Yodha. We can just hope that this promising director duo continues to direct films in the future and for the people who missed Yodha in theatres, you're unlucky. Watch it in Amazon Prime, 'kahin waqt haath se nikal naa jaye'.
Watch Out For
Random but fun Shahrukh Khan references in the film. It's Pathaan effect baby!
WTF Rating
7/10