Border 2 Review: Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh War Drama Is Preachy, Loud, And Occasionally Emotional!
Border 2 is directed by Anurag Singh, and is based on the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Read our review here.
2 / 5
Never touch a classic! Border 2 based on the 1971 Indo-Pak war is a tribute to the 1997 film by JP Dutta. The film shows the combined efforts of Army, Navy, and Air Force on the battlefield. Anurag Singh’s film stars Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh, Ahaan Shetty, Mona Singh and Sonam Bajwa. Border 2 is almost a three hour thirty minute film the revolves around the wars on several fronts, personal journey of each character and some friendly banter of soldiers at NDA. High on patriotic preaching but very less on evoking emotions, here’s a quick review of the much-awaited Sunny Deol film. Read on.
Plot
The story of Border 2 tries to assimilate many plots, and the screenplay keeps shifting between past and present. It begins with the border tensions between India and Pakistan right before the war happened. In the first half, the story majorly focuses on showing us the camaraderie of Hoshiar Singh (Varun Dhawan), Nirmal Jeet Singh Sekhon (Diljit Dosanjh) and MS Rawat (Ahaan Shetty) and how this fun banters turns into brotherhood. A parallel subplot depicts the happy family life of Fateh Singh Kaler (Sunny Deol) and his wife (Mona Singh), and how this perfect life turns upside down when their young son dies fighting a war.
The second half is all about the wars on all fronts. Sekho and MS Rawat’s battles are shown simultaneously, while Hoshiar Singh and Fateh Singh’s army battles get more screen time.
First Thing’s First!
Let’s talk about the war scenes later, and focus on the emotions for which JP Dutta’s Border still remains fresh in our minds. This spiritual sequel lacks it for the most part. Border 2 is so engrossed in making patriotism preachy that it doesn’t allow the real emotions to kick in. The potential emotions are either killed by stretched, poorly written scenes, or dramatic over-the-top dialogues delivered in a high-pitch. For me, it was only Mona Singh who carried emotions in the film, and that flawlessly translated on the screen. The apprehensions of a mother when her son shows her the army recruitment letter, or the moment when she breaks down after the news of her son’s demise in war, or even the conflicts with her husband, Mona Singh delivers effortlessly in every frame! Another emotion that was received well was the banter between Diljit and Varun’s characters. The candid punchlines done so well by Diljit Dosanjh instantly brings a smile to your face.
War Scenes
I wonder if wars happened the way it was portrayed in Border 2. More like a human war, it felt like a superhero film, where everyone is single-handedly tackling the enemies. What about brotherhood? This hit hard when Ahaan Shetty’s MS Rawat took charge on the navy front all alone, while the other officers saw him championing that from a distance! Even in Diljit Dosanjh’s air fight. Where were the other fighter pilots? Also this scene was so shoddily executed with VFX that it was hard to tell who was attacking whom, when, and from where? But that’s just not it, even the strategy for the attacks were not in place. Just screaming at the top of the voice is not enough, right?
Not all the battles scenes are shot well, except one where Varun Dhawan fought inside the bunker with a gun and the camera moved with him. It certainly was impactful but well short-lived. The last half hour of the film is dedicated to the army’s war and while it’s quite intense and stretched, little to no attention has been given to making it technically correct. Okay we are fine with all the heroism, but why would Varun’s Hoshiar Singh wait for Fateh Singh to pass him a gun when another is already lying next to him? Maybe I noticed way too much!
Also Read: All You Need To Know About Border 2’s Morning Shows Getting Cancelled In Multiple Cities!
Performances
Sunny Deol carries the legacy of the original with his effortless screen presence as Fateh Singh Kaler. The actor is certainly the perfect fit for this role, however, a few scenes of him delivering dialogues loudly does bother. Varun Dhawan has delivered more nuanced performances before, and this one just doesn’t sit right with those expectations. However, the actor pulls off the innocence charm of his character really well during the romantic scenes opposite Medha Rana.
Diljit Dosanjh is absolutely spot on, and I loved watching him in the film. It was quite refreshing and he adds the comic-relief to the story. Mona Singh stands out with the little screen presence that she gets, and the actor yet again proves her range. Ahaan Shetty gives his best but his character deserved better.
Other evident flaws in the film were the funny and dramatic portrayals of the Pakistani Army, and the songs that unfortunately evoked no emotions. Remember how beautifully the song ‘Sandese Aate Hain’ was captured in Border. It felt deeply rooted in the storytelling. It was the perfect song to describe the essence of brotherhood and unity in a war zone but the recreation felt like a performance. And more annoying was the fact that the voice of many singers did not suit the actors, except of course Diljit!
Verdict
Anurag Singh’s War 2 is built on nostalgia but is not the perfect tribute to the 1997 classic. It wants to be but fails miserably on many fronts. The performances are not very memorable, and the film gets the emotions right only in bits and pieces. It’s currently running in theatres.
First Published: January 23, 2026 8:03 PM
