Yodha, released on March 15, 2024, wants to be a high-flying action thriller but ends up stuck on the tarmac, weighed down by a jumbled mess of a script and a reliance on tired tropes. Sidharth Malhotra plays Arun Katyal, a suspended Yodha Task Force soldier who finds himself on a hijacked plane, fighting terrorists and his own tarnished reputation. It’s a premise that sounds promising—India’s take on an aerial Die Hard—but what unfolds is a below-average slog that’s more exhausting than exhilarating, a film that tries to soar but barely gets off the ground.

Malhotra gives it his all, and you can’t fault his effort. He’s got the physique and the steely gaze down, channeling the same patriotic soldier vibe he nailed in Shershaah. But even his earnest swagger can’t lift this flimsy story. The action scenes—planes flipping midair, fistfights in cramped cabins—start off slick but quickly turn repetitive, bogged down by shaky CGI and editing that’s more chaotic than thrilling. Raashii Khanna, as his wife Priya, is stuck in a thankless role, popping in and out with little to do beyond looking concerned. Disha Patani’s air hostess twist is predictable from a mile away, and her limited screen time feels like a wasted opportunity. The supporting cast—Sunny Hinduja, Ronit Roy—fades into the background, overshadowed by a plot too busy tripping over itself to let anyone shine.

The real villain here isn’t the terrorists—it’s the screenplay. Cooked up by Sagar Ambre and team, it’s a convoluted stew of half-baked twists and patriotic chest-thumping that feels cribbed from better films like Non-Stop or Tiger 3. The 133-minute runtime drags, especially in a second half that piles on subplots—rogue soldiers, Indo-Pak tensions, a wife in peril—without bothering to tie them together. Logic takes a nosedive early on: an Indian jet lands on an Islamabad highway, and somehow one guy saves the day? It’s the kind of nonsense that might’ve worked with tighter pacing or sharper writing, but Yodha just stumbles along, hoping loud explosions and tricolor smoke bombs will distract you from the mess. They don’t.

The visuals are fine—Jishnu Bhattacharjee’s cinematography gives it a glossy sheen, and the background score tries to pump up the stakes—but it’s all window dressing on a hollow core. The songs, like “Zindagi Tere Naam,” are forgettable, and the sound design can’t mask the clunky dialogue (“Iss picture ka hero main hoon” lands more like a plea than a punchline). Directors Ambre and Ojha, in their debut, aim for a crowd-pleasing thrill ride, but they’re let down by a script that’s low on originality and high on confusion.

Yodha isn’t a total crash—it’s got a few decent action beats and Malhotra’s star power to keep it from being unwatchable. But it’s a below-average fare that feels like a missed chance, a film too caught up in its own turbulence to deliver anything memorable. I’d give it 2 out of 5 stars—barely passable if you’re desperate for a patriotic fix, but don’t expect it to take flight. You’re better off rewatching something with more fuel in its tank.