At about forty minutes into Waar, I was compelled to tweet MY status; the expletive-free version here pretty much asks the same question: when would Waar start thrilling. The answer: pretty much never.
As the first of what I presume many future plotless, scriptless actioners from Pakistani New Wave, director Bilal Lasharis long-in-production actioner is as ineffective as any late night B-movie on counter-terrorism units working against the clock to stop local and international villainy. Only here, the clock never starts. The climatic brawl actually has a timed-bomb ticking away not that it makes a squat of difference.
The idea behind Mr. Lasharis big-budget fare is fairly on the money: a scarred one-man-army ghost-op (Shaan Shahid playing Mujtaba) is called back to active duty to save the country from a nefarious cosplaying bad guy (Shamoon Abbasi), who killed his family. In with Mujtaba is intelligence ace Javeria (Ayesha Khan), her gun-happy brother Ehtesham (Hamza Ali Abbasi), a lot of Urdu subtitles (the movies native language is English), and an overstretched running time.
From what it appears on the screen, the screenplay by producer Hassan Waqas Rana is a codswallop of instances taped together to form narrative coherency. Their inadequacy often functions against Mr. Lasharis natural, and very apparent, cinematic knack.
Waar has adequate cinematography and editing by Mr. Lashari (film anything in REDs digital cinematic resolution and youll automatically get the clean grandness of a feature film). The lighting design becomes apparent in a few noticeable moments and the production designs lavishness is limited to rented townhouses, apartments and a crumbling brick headquarters of our homebred terrorists.
If these benchmarks are taken into account, amongst Mr. Lasharis own insistence to use real firepower and weaponry, then Waar certainly is a showy enterprise; in reality though, it is an exercise of unwarranted overextending.
Ok, I can imagine the hate-mail pouring in right now: do too much, and its overextending; do too little, and youre underachieving. At least applaud the revival. I agree, to a degree. There is a significant difference between making an okayish product and an intelligent one (case in point: Josh versus Zinda Bhaag; and then there was Main Hoon Shahid Afridi, a showboat entertainer). Superficial looks never made any Wood (Holly, Bolly) better.
Waar dawdles through its pre-intermission time by shifting through Mujtabas grunts (and the casts deliberate use of English accents), some backstories and a few bits of action (the first-strike in a back-alley terrorist hideout that opens the movie is gripping).
In between them is Eijaz Khan (Ali Azmat), a politician who wants to make a dam and serve Pakistan. His is a man who has had a moment of weakness (in the form of socio-activist played by Meesha Shafi), but is still strong-willed about his responsibilities and maybe his own dreams of greatness. At one moment, standing alone in his balcony, he opens his arms wide to take the applause of an invisible crowd of millions. Like every young-blood politician, he has an agenda and watching Mr. Azmat work his character, as real actors try to keep up, is a strange, if unexpected experience.
Unlike Eijaz Khans plans, Waars agenda is clear to a lesser degree. The story, the plot, the resolve in fact everything hangs on a failing thread.
A handful of scenes show Mr. Abbasis counter-intelligence specialist named Rumal, slipping into Pakistan, snapping peoples necks, or dancing a half-hearted tango with Ms. Shafi (Spoiler alert? I dont think so. The clip is in the trailers). Rumals dread is never fully elaborated, other than what were told of him.
Mr. Shahid is just too stale as Mujtaba; our interest in him is limited to his skills in the field, and that too in trifling quantities.
When the movie opens, we see Mujtaba interrogating two terrorists in a bad-cop/bad-cop routine. The full scene slides its way deep into Waars second act (if there is an act structure here), and is the only scene that helps let out a guffaw. This brief moment of excellence never surfaces again.
Instead, what we see often are episodes like this: At one instance, late in the movie, we see Mujtaba jump off a military chopper in daylight, as he makes his way to the main terrorists hideout, bumping off any antihero he bumps into. He even saves a couple of children (who we had no idea were there in the first place), while the rest of the covert action team serves as cannon-fodder backup.
Mujtaba gets two more shots amidst some more grieving, but they hardly matter, because like John McClane, or any of Mr. Schwarzeneggers action-avatars, the villains are literally dead-meat when Mujtaba walks into a scene.
Speaking of action scenes, the Lahore Police Academy attack, the core foundation of Waars inspiration, is one of the few gripping moments in the movies 130 minute running time. The layout and the execution of the attack, whether fact or fictionalized, has the right impact.
Coming back to the cast, Ms. Khan sobs, threatens and gruffs as much as Mr. Shahid, though to what exact effect I am perplexed. Her feminine sensuality is a seeming addition to an otherwise boys-and-their-toys flick. Ms. Khans on-screen brother is more captivating.
Akin to his recent stint in Main Hoon Shahid Afridi, Mr. Ali plays an immediately likable character who also has no real substance. Mr. Ali has few dialogues and two action scenes, but Waar deliberately keep him on the sidelines, as if the production was unsure of wasting Mr. Shahids spotlight. It would have been better if it did or if Mr. Shahid was written with originality or panache (at the end of the day, I doubt we got to know much about Mujtaba other than what was ordered at us).
One of my other biggest beef with Waar (apart from its threadbare story-layout) is its language: a movie about Pakistan, its lingering terrorist threats and valor of armed forces shouldnt center itself on a foreign language. Even if some of us especially the ones in high-society do find it better to forsake our native language, it doesnt mean that a mainstream commercial movie should cater specifically to that small demographic. Everyone else even if they can afford a Rs. 500 (plus) ticket isnt chopped liver, and new blood filmmakers should note that down in big screaming letters. Catering to the international market is one thing, but relying solely on it is either ignorance or arrogance.
The least Waars producers could do is dub the movie; on second thought, that would make everything more awkward.
Anyhow just see post # 151 
