Film: Waar

Objectively there isn't much going for Waar. It has some questionable acting, some interesting effects and a quite broken plot. I think "amateurish" is the word I as looking for, and a lot of the time in the cinema I felt I was watching a YouTube fan film rather than a international release. I don't really buy the whole "we should remember that it's a Pakistani film, bechara" argument as there have been examples of relatively well produced films coming from the country (like Bol). There's no reason this needed to be so shoddy.

Which is a shame, because the film did have potential. In fact I would say that its biggest mistake was in its ambition - Waar tries to be way too many things, follow way too many characters and tell us way too many stories. If it had cut down its scope a little I think it would have been pretty good. A special mention has to go to the hammy English (including a garden variety of swear words) - I think I was more shocked than I was was first witnessing Deepika kissing on screen. I guess that's progress though.

So not quite recommended then - unless you're a bit of a patriot. Which, judging by the applause given by the audience I was in, is a perfectly valid reason to watch Waar. And if I'm honest I didn't totally hate it; and might have even enjoyed it a little - but then on the other hand I can't quite help feel a little patronising when I conclude that it was a jolly good effort.