War 2 makers dragged by Reddit for presenting negative review of Hrithik-NTR film as positive: 'Turning 00s into 100s'

Hindustan Times

a day ago

War 2, the spy thriller starring Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR, hit the screens on Thursday, August 14. The Ayan Mukerji film has been produced by Yash Raj Films, and is the newest, most ambitious chapter of the studio's YRF Spy Universe. Even though War 2 had a decent start at the box office courtesy of the two superstars' pull, the critical reviews were mixed to negative. Now, social media users have criticised YRF for presenting one negative review as positive in their creative. War 2 stars Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR in the lead roles.
Reddit pokes holes in YRF's post
On Thursday, YRF took to Instagram from their official handle to share a few reviews for the film on Instagram Stories. One creative showed a glimpse of Hrithik and Kiara Advani from the film, alongside the review of trade analyst and critic Taran Adarsh. "Has star power, scale, style, stunts - Taran Adarsh," the text read, implying that Taran has given a thumbs up to the film.
A YRF creative showing Taran Adarsh's review of War 2.
However, Redditors were quick to point out that not only did Taran Adarsh give a lowly 1.5-star rating to War 2, but this line was taken out of context from his review. "War 2 team posted review of Taran Adarsh, but I think there is a mistake," wrote one person, sharing the YRF graphic on Reddit. The next slide contained Taran's original review posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account. It read: 'Disappointing. Weakest film in the YRF Spy Universe...Has star power, scale, style, stunts - but lacks soul... Writing is the biggest culprit here. Not even Hrithik Roshan or Jr NTR can save this royal mess.'
Reddit pointed out how YRF's graphic conveniently omitted half the sentence, which added context to Taran Adarsh's statement about star power and scale in War 2. "Turning 00s into 100s. give the intern a raise," one person quipped in the comments. Another joked, "Gotta learn this and use during my yearly performance reviews." A comment read, "Gotta admire the sense of optimism." Another chimed in, "They really went to the ocean to extract some salt."
About War 2
War 2 opened at ₹52.50 crore net in India, a healthy but still subpar collection for the film. War 2 has lagged behind War and Pathaan, two of the most successful films from the YRF Spy Universe. That it had two big stars and a pan-India appeal makes the sub- ₹60 crore opening surprising. In addition, the reviews have not been kind to it either. The HT review of the film read: "You know that feeling when you finally splurge on that fancy meal you have been craving, only to realise halfway through you do not even like it? That is War 2."
The film is currently running in theatres.