'Verses of War' review: Vivek Oberoi, Rohit Roy lead a one-time-watch war film

‘Verses of War’ starts off as a sincere effort at giving a war film a different flavour, one that makes violence palatable, if only to an extent. Starring Vivek Oberoi and Rohit Roy in leading roles, the short film shines light on the vulnerability of humans affected by war and the emotions that often shadow behind feelings of patriotism when two soldiers of warring countries come face-to-face.

Directed by Prasad Kadam, ‘Verses of War’ explores the poetic side of Indian and Pakistani soldiers, Vivek and Rohit as one gets captured by another. Vivek plays Major Sunil Bhatia who gets captured by Pakistani forces, led by Captain Nawaz played by Rohit Roy. Rohit Roy is convincing as a Pakistani soldier who emotes frustration, compassion, anger, nationalism and a myriad of feelings as he plays the torturer. Vivek, however, fails to charm as an Indian army officer with a smirk that stays on his face throughout his prison stay. Although brave, Vivek fails to drive home the character that looks and feels bland. This, even though his character is a poet and often writes poetry.Top Bollywood stars of 90s making a comeback on OTT: Raveena Tandon to Madhuri Dixit

In almost all instances, Vivek Oberoi will remind you of his character from recently released show ‘Inside Edge’ with a permanent smirk plastered on his face, playing the know-it-all. Why it doesn't work in 'Verses of War' is that italmost comes across as snobbery rather than bravery.

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Watch the film trailer here:

The film borders too close to being jingoistic rather than patriotic in nature. The short length of the film does justice to the script as it doesn’t look like a drag but it misses the punch that you’d expect from it. The poetry is well scripted and timely.

Released on YouTube, ‘Verses of War’ is an easy one time watch, not bad for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

The film stars Vivek Oberoi, Rohit Roy, Shivani Rai, Lokesh Mittal.

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