Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR's War 2 underperforms - trade experts explain why

India Today

11 hours ago

Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR's highly anticipated action thriller 'War 2' has fallen short of expectations at the box office. Despite the massive scale, high-octane stunts, and star power, audiences have largely rejected the film, marking the first major setback for Yash Raj Films' celebrated Spy Universe.Trade analyst Taran Adarsh pinpointed content as the primary issue. "The basic thing that went really wrong with 'War 2' was the content. People are saying the teaser, trailer, and songs did not work, but all that is secondary. Yes, those are hooks to attract audiences on day one, but eventually, the content does the talking. Here, the word of mouth was so bad from day one itself that the only day it benefited was Independence Day," he said.advertisementHe added that even the holiday factor couldn't rescue the film. "Out of the four-day weekend—Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday—Thursday was a working day, Friday (Independence Day) did well, but Saturday (Janmashtami) (the film) didn't do well, and even Sunday, a holiday, it didn't do well. If a film doesn't perform on holidays, it means there's something seriously wrong with it. That's why I used the term 'crash'—because it actually crashed. There has been outright rejection."
Theatre owner and trade expert Vishek Chauhan outlined three reasons for the film's underperformance. "Primarily, there are three reasons 'War 2' didn't work. Number one is genre overkill. This whole idea of universe films, crossovers, characters crisscrossing—Hollywood started this with Iron Man in 2008. It's been 17 years, and audiences now have fatigue with this 'world-saving, superhero' kind of cinema. In Hollywood, they call it superhero fatigue, and I think that fatigue has set in here, too. We saw diminishing returns with 'Tiger 3', and we saw it with 'Fighter'," he said.Chauhan further added, "Audiences today are more open to personal stories—like 'Animal', or even a simple love story. There's a clear demand-supply mismatch, which is why a film like 'Saiyaara', with a Rs 22–23 crore opening, is now expected to end up doing twice the lifetime of War 2. That shows audiences are looking for smaller, more personal, relatable stories. If you're making action, it needs to have personal angst, like 'Animal'."He added that the film wasn't rooted enough for Indian sensibilities. "'War 2' is not an inherently desi film. It follows the Hollywood playbook—two heroes, one villain, global crisis. Hollywood has been doing this for 20–25 years, and even they've moved it to OTT. Now, every third or fourth week, Amazon or Netflix drops this kind of film. So for Indian theatres, this doesn't feel fresh or rooted."Chauhan also didn't mince words about the execution. 'Number three is sloppy filmmaking. The film just wasn't up to the mark. Feedback has been underwhelming, and word of mouth has been poor. So, a bad genre, not inherently Indian, and weak execution—those three reasons did it.'While some industry voices have attributed the underperformance to Rajinikanth's 'Coolie', Adarsh dismissed the claim: 'In Hindi, 'Coolie' did not make much difference to 'War 2'. In Tamil Nadu, yes, it did. In the Telugu states, yes, it did. It was a tough fight there. But overall, if you see the response, it is outright rejection.'advertisementAdarsh agreed that the director's debate is being overstated. "Ayan's first two films—'Wake Up Sid' and 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani'—were brilliant. I still maintain that 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' is one of the best rom-coms in recent times. But after 'Brahmastra' and now this (War 2), the graph has gone down. It's all style and spectacle, a lot of money spent, but what's the plot? The screenplay was so confusing that I didn't know what was happening."Chauhan, too, added, "Blaming Ayan Mukerji alone isn't fair. When a film doesn't work, people start saying NTR shouldn't have been cast, or if only Shah Rukh had done it, it would've worked. These debates are endless. The truth is, even Siddharth Anand's 'Fighter' didn't work, while his 'Pathaan' did. Ultimately, the three reasons I mentioned are the real factors. Even Aditya Chopra, Hrithik, and NTR were involved; they all saw the film and released it. So just blaming Ayan isn't right."advertisementOn the box office front, both experts see the film as a commercial setback. Adarsh noted, 'The Hindi version has earned around Rs 137 crore net so far and should wrap up at Rs 155–160 crore, which is shockingly low. Yes, they may have recovered through satellite and other rights, but everything is now correlated with box-office outcome. Prices are determined on the basis of the box office.'Chauhan estimated, "War 2 opened well but crashed by Monday. I expect its Hindi net lifetime to be around Rs. 170–175 crore. In comparison, Coolie should do around Rs. 40–50 crore in Hindi and overall better than War 2 pan-India."Both also acknowledged that Jr NTR's star power couldn't overcome a weak script. 'When the content doesn't work, everything falls flat,' said Adarsh. 'Jr NTR is such a brilliant actor—I would rate him as one of the finest we have in India today. But even the best of actors cannot salvage a weak script.'The failure has now put YRF's future Spy Universe projects under scrutiny. "There's always introspection. When they look at 'Alpha', it will be with a very different viewpoint now. Until now, the Spy Universe has had a fantastic track record, and War 2 is its first real failure. Even 'Tiger 3' did much, much better," Adarsh said.advertisementChauhan warned, "As for the spy universe's future with Alpha, unless it's an outstanding film that blows audiences away, it'll be tough. When a franchise is in trouble, you need something extraordinary to break the rut. With two back-to-back underperformers, negativity has settled in around the spy universe. Only an extraordinary, kick-ass film can change that."Summing up, trade analyst Taran admitted to being personally disappointed, "Honestly, I felt terrible after watching it. As someone who has grown up in a film environment, watching movies day in and day out, I know you can take cinematic liberties—but there has to be some content. For three hours, there has to be something that holds you. And here, there was nothing."- EndsTune InYou May Also Like