Yodha (2024) Movie Review – An intriguing action thriller with plot twists you won’t see coming

An intriguing action thriller with plot twists you never see coming

The genre of historical fiction and war movies inspired by the real-life conflict between India and Pakistan has been on the rise in recent years. With movies like Pathaan, Tiger 3, Fighter, Article 370 and many more released in the last few months, there has been a lot of attention to the conflict between India and its bordering country over the occupancy of the state of Kashmir.

Another engaging action flick at heart with a muddled storyline around the same genre is the Sidharth Malhotra starrer Yodha. The film narrates the complicated journey of Arun Katyal, an officer in the special task Indian force – Yodha. Arun’s inability to protect a scientist during a plane hijack costs him the dissolution of the Yodha task force – a unit that was started by his late father.

As Arun tries to convince the Indian government to continue the activities of the Yodha task force, he is faced with controversial allegations. Arun is labelled as the hijacker of a plane after supposedly going rogue. The film, Yodha, follows Arun (played by Sidharth Malhotra) and his quest to maintain his father’s legacy. 

The action sequences in Yodha are its USP as Sidharth’s agility in the scenes is what keeps viewers hooked. From a storyline perspective, Yodha does falter due to the insane number of technical jargon as well as its cheesy dialogues. The film has an amazing screenplay but this is also overshadowed by the confusing narrative and the plot twists. 

The film does reference Shah Rukh Khan, an idol to many actors and movie lovers, including Sidharth Malhotra himself. However, these references sometimes do come off as cheesy and take away from the serious tonality of Yodha. The film is an all-in-all action flick and Sidharth shines through it. Rashi Khanna does an okay job as Priyamvada Katyal, Arun’s wife and a member of the PMO. Rashi’s dialogue delivery seems slow and monotonous.

On the contrary, Disha Patani does a pretty impressive job as Laila, the air hostess. The action sequences on the plane involving Sidharth Malhotra and Disha Patani are jaw-dropping and the two fit well together in this action thriller. The film is comparatively slow-paced despite the urgency of the situation Arun Katyal is in.

Yodha narrates a complicated story with twists and turns every two minutes. The audience is just as confused as Arun Katyal and the layers of the story peel like an onion. The film does not force Arun and Priyamvada’s romance down your throats and we only see their relationship in the single Zindagi Tere Naam which maintains the genre of film as a delightful action flick.

The single ‘Qismat Badal Di’ becomes a nostalgic angsty track to highlight Arun’s internal conflicts while ‘Tiranga’ evokes the patriotism that this genre demands from the audience. One highlight of Yodha is that it does not include dance numbers just for the sake of publicity. The makers of this one made the wise choice of maintaining the seriousness of the storyline by including a handful of R&B songs instead of the foot-thumping hits seen in contemporary films like Fighter and Pathaan.

Yodha is a decent weekend watch that may or may not falter because of its lack of promotion. I hope that word-of-mouth does this film service, prompting audiences to watch this intricate action thriller in the cinemas!

 

Read More: Yodha (2024) Ending Explained


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  • Verdict - 8.5/10
    8.5/10
8.5/10

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