After the colossal success of SS Rajamouli’s RRR which earned pan-India stardom for NTR, who played one of the lead roles in it, his strategic move to consolidate the newfound Bollywood image was evident when he chose to appear in the biggest spy universe beside Hrithik Roshan. When he signed War 2, critics and his fans felt that it was a wise decision to target the Hindi market with a Bollywood film rather than doing a direct pan-India movie with a South Indian director.

Though Devara, his immediate film after RRR, received a lukewarm response in North circuits, NTR is very much confident that War 2 would take him closer to Hindi audiences and help his upcoming films garner huge attention prior to their releases. This is why he took a calculated risk despite the poor track record of Bollywood directors with Telugu heroes. Some of the current generation actors like Ram Charan and Prabhas already tasted miserable flops with films like Zanzeer and Adhipurush. Yet, NTR went ahead with his decision with an ambitious plan.

Unfortunately, NTR’s selection turned out to be a colossal blunder going by the severe backlash the film and his character have been getting all sections of audiences from North to South. Though the film’s collections are moderate if not worst due to the long holiday season, there is nothing much to write home about NTR’s role or acting skills. Also, his dull makeover and poor screen presence has been receiving acute criticism from his own fandom.

Dances and dialogues are NTR’s strong suit. His emotional performances often get appreciation even from his rival fans. Disappointingly, War 2 director didn’t tap into these aspects and utterly failed to present NTR in a convincing manner. Except for a few episodes, NTR’s presence didn’t turn out to be a value addition for War 2 which is one of the biggest liabilities.

Overall, NTR’s spunky attempt to do a straight Bollywood film met an undesirable end.