“Yudhra,” released on September 20, 2024, directed by Ravi Udyawar and produced by Excel Entertainment, arrived with the promise of a gritty action thriller, starring Siddhant Chaturvedi, Malavika Mohanan, and Raghav Juyal. Billed as a tale of vengeance and rage, it follows Yudhra (Chaturvedi), an orphan with anger issues, infiltrating a drug cartel to avenge his parents’ murder.

The premise had potential: a hot-headed hero, scarred by a tragic birth—his mother dies minutes before he’s delivered—turned loose cannon by circumstance. Adopted by his father’s police colleague Kartik (Gajraj Rao) and mentored by Rehman (Ram Kapoor), Yudhra’s journey takes him from school expulsions to a cadet academy bust-up, landing him in a notorious prison. There, he’s tapped as an undercover agent to dismantle drug lord Firoz (Raj Arjun) and his son Shafiq (Juyal). It’s a setup that could’ve been taut and thrilling, but “Yudhra” squanders it with a script that’s as aimless as its protagonist’s fury.

The writing, credited to Shridhar Raghavan, is a mess. The first half lumbers through a repetitive backstory—anger issues, a childhood sweetheart Nikhat (Mohanan), and a contrived “lack of oxygen at birth” excuse for Yudhra’s volatility—before nosediving into a second half that’s equal parts predictable and preposterous. Twists, like a mid-film reveal about a key character, are telegraphed miles away, and the climax—a cruise ship showdown—feels lifted from a tired playbook. Emotional beats, such as Yudhra’s bond with Nikhat or his parents’ deaths, are reduced to throwaway lines (“Today’s dad’s birthday, I miss him”), leaving the audience cold. Posts on X called it a “headless chicken,” and that’s apt—it abandons its drug syndicate plot for a half-baked action-romance that goes nowhere.

Chaturvedi tries hard, flexing a beefed-up physique and a scowl, but he lacks the gravitas to anchor a commercial actioner. His swagger feels forced, and the script doesn’t give him room to evolve beyond a one-note rage machine. Mohanan’s Nikhat is stunning but wasted—her medical-student-turned-sidekick arc is a non-starter, and their chemistry fizzles. Juyal, fresh off a menacing turn in “Kill,” is the lone spark as Shafiq, but even his unhinged energy is underused, sidelined by a rushed death. The supporting cast—Rao, Kapoor, Raj Arjun—ham it up, but their roles are too thin to salvage the slog.

Technically, “Yudhra” has flashes of promise. Jay Pinak Oza’s saturated cinematography lends a gritty sheen, and action set pieces—like a music store brawl or a bicycle chase—show glimmers of creativity, thanks to stunt coordinator Nick Powell (Gladiator). But the choppy editing (Tushar Parekh and Anand Subaya) and overdone CGI undermine the impact, making fights feel disjointed rather than visceral. The Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy soundtrack is forgettable—“Saathiya” and “Sohni Lagdi” are bland interruptions—and the Balhara brothers’ score tries too hard to inject menace into a flimsy narrative.

“Yudhra” wants to be a slick, emotional actioner but ends up a tiring, derivative dud. It’s neither thrilling enough to pump adrenaline nor deep enough to stir the heart—just a noisy, bloated misstep that proves even a talented team can’t save a script this stale.

Rating: 2/5

A forgettable fiasco—skip it for something sharper on your streaming queue.