In a birthday gift that has sent fans into a frenzy, the highly anticipated teaser for “War 2” dropped on Tuesday, featuring a heavyweight showdown between Bollywood action titan Hrithik Roshan and “RRR” star NTR Jr.
The teaser release, timed to coincide with NTR Jr’s birthday celebrations on May 20, delivers on Roshan’s recent promise of an “explosive” surprise for fans. The brief but action-packed preview offers the first glimpse of these two cinematic forces sharing the screen.
“War 2” also stars Kiara Advani in the female lead, marking her entry into Yash Raj Films’ ever-expanding spy universe. The film is directed by Ayan Mukerji, best known for his work on the fantasy adventure “Brahmastra,” making this his first foray into the high-octane spy thriller genre.
Created by producer Aditya Chopra, the spy universe kicked off with the Tiger franchise, starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, beginning with “Ek Tha Tiger” (2012) and “Tiger Zinda Hai” (2017), and continued with “War” (2019), starring Roshan and Tiger Shroff. These were followed by “Pathaan,” starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, and “Tiger 3,” both in 2023. “Alpha,” starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari, the first female-led film in the universe is due after “War 2,” followed by “Tiger vs Pathaan,” featuring both Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.
In the Tiger franchise, Salman Khan plays Avinash Singh Rathore, AKA Tiger, who belongs to Indian intelligence agency RAW and Kaif plays Zoya Humaini from Pakistan’s ISI. In “War,” Roshan is rogue RAW agent Kabir Dhaliwal and Shroff his protégé Khalid Rahmani. In “Pathaan,” Shah Rukh Khan plays exiled RAW agent Pathaan and Padukone ISI agent Rubina Mohsin.
Tiger has an extended cameo in “Pathaan” and the film also features Colonel Sunil Luthra (Ashutosh Rana), who first appeared in “War” and is in “Tiger 3” as well. The character Pathaan has a cameo in “Tiger 2” as does Kabir Dhaliwal.
“War 2” is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on Aug. 14, and will be available in the Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu languages, catering to the pan-Indian appeal of its star cast.
Watch the “War 2” teaser here: