Yaara Movie Review: Yaara is about four friends cum partners-in-crime - Phagun (Vidyut Jammwal), Mitwa (Amit Sadh), Rizwan (Vijay Varma) and Bahadur (Kenny Deori Basumatary). The movie tracks their lives from the '50s to the late '90s. Phagun and Mitwa were surrogate brothers, who ran away from their village after their father is killed and they fail in their attempt to kill his murderer. They reach a village near Indo-Nepal border, where they are recruited by Chaman (Sanjay Mishra) as part of his Chaukdi gang. Bahadur and Rizwan are the other members, who become their friends. Vidyut Jammwal Isn't Disappointed with Yaara and Khuda Haafiz’s Straight-to-OTT Release, Here’s Why.

During the '70s, they are all grown up and are doing brisk business as arms dealers. Soon they also get mixed up in the Naxal movement, after Phagun meets Sukanya (Shruti Haasan), a student leader.

The movie often cuts to their lives in the '90s, where Phagun (who is now Param), Rizwan and Bahadur are now powerful businessmen. Phagun is married to Sukanya and has a kid. The friends are shocked to hear that Mitwa, who still hasn't stopped being a criminal, is in town and he is in the custody of the CBI.

So what happened to the Chaukdi gang in between, that Mitwa got separated from his friends and led a different life? And why has he returned all of a sudden? Yaara answers these questions and more, as it jumps between past and present to create a mildly intriguing narrative.

Yaara is said to be a remake of the 2011 French film, A Gang Story. Since I haven't seen the original film, I do hope that it has a interesting storyline to catch the attention of Dhulia, an intelligent if inconsistent filmmaker. For Yaara shows very less of the acumen that was needed in the existence of this adaptation.

The movie has been in the making for five years, and like with nearly every delayed release, it has quite a few scars to show. In the case of Yaara, it is the sloppy editing that turns out to be a dealbreaker. As the movie flits through one scene to another with frenzied cuts, it is difficult to maintain a sustained interest in the proceedings. As a result, we hardly grab what happens in a particular scene, nor do we find the characters, including the protagonists, to be engaging enough. Yaara: Shruti Haasan Reveals Her Character Plays a Pivotal Part in Film’s Plot Twist.

Watch the Trailer of Yaara:

The only two characters that manage to bring some modicum of intrigue are Phagun (more so, because he is the 'hero') and Mitwa (because of the mystery surrounding his return, which is soon skewered). Rizwan and Bahadur turn out to be mere fillers, rather than properly sketched out characters. For a film that is about friendship forged in turbulence, we don't really feel for these 'yaaras'. This film needs to borrow friendship bands from Rahul to live upto that title.

Yaara gains some semblance of momentum in the middle portions when the gang gets involved in the Naxal movement, and finds themselves arrested.

There is a thrill factor that makes things interesting in these portions, but the editing and some sloppy writing do love to play the villains here. Especially when it comes to Sukanya, who has her own tragic tale of woe which is brushed under the carpet for a fairytale romance and domestic bliss. It should be a good idea to see how a girl, who pouts ideals for the nation, comes to terms when she faces true hurdles in her battle. Especially after she makes her irate boyfriend realise that he was not the only to suffer; she suffered more. But Yaara has no such great plan for her, as she further suffers from bad writing and ends up being merely a disapproving wife.

Even worse is the treatment given to the subplot involving Mitwa and his former girlfriend Tanuja (Shrea Narayanan) that leaves very little impact to the plot. Especially how the film later deals with Tanuja's fate. But then this is a movie, where the one Nepali character we have is called 'Bahadur' so that's saying something about the writing. Even the dialogues - which is Dhulia's forte, usually - don't get to score here.

The third act, when people start getting killed in the present times, brings a sense of mystery, though it takes a few major characters to get killed, to know that there is one. There are a couple of twists that would have looked awesome on paper, but only passes muster in the film. Again, for which the blame falls on the writing and editing. Like, for example, the finale reveals the treachery of an important character that may come as a surprise to some. But why the person did what he did is never thrown any light upon.

It is then left to the the four main lead actors to do good with their sketchy parts. Vidyut leaves the best impression with his dashing looks and decent performance. Those who expect him to show off his famous martial arts would be disappointed with the brief glimpses Yaara has to offer of it. Amit Sadh is fine enough. Vijay Varma tries too hard to liven up things, while Basumatary leaves hardly any impact.

Shruti Haasan is just about okay. Sanjay Mishra is criminally underused, while Ankur Vikal is wasted. A couple of positives, apart from the earnestness of the actors, includes Rishi Punjabi's cinematography. There are some beautiful frames of sand dunes in the first act of the film, while the rest of the movie is decently photographed. The songs are mildly interesting.

Yay!

- The Actor's Ernest Performances

Nay!

- Writing and Editing

Final Thoughts

A letdown in a couple of crucial departments, it is difficult to find 'Yaara' with this Tigmanshu Dhulia film. For those who expected the filmmaker to return to his Haasil roots would actually find the film reach for the disappointing excesses of his Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 and Milan Talkies instead. Yaara is streaming on Zee5.

Rating:2.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2020 08:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).