Bhansali, who? Malayalam cinema made an Avengers-like movie on War and Love 23 years ago

What are you trying to pull off, Sanjay Leela Bhansali? You are making a movie about Love and War in 2026, even though Malayalam cinema made an “epic” on these two themes almost 23 years ago? Bhansali really thinks he can do as great a job as Vinayan? Seriously?! War and Love (2003) isn’t just Malayalam cinema’s “answer” to Saving Private Ryan (1998); it’s the industry’s Avengers, in a way. I highly doubt Bhansali, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal can create a movie that’s even a fraction of what Vinayan Sir made.

War and Love opens by dedicating itself to those brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives for India. However, by the time the movie ends, any family of soldiers killed in action who watch it may feel second-hand embarrassment and even be offended, wondering if this is what people, especially filmmakers, think the lives and missions of Army personnel look like.

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Malayalam cinema’s Border

War and Love arrived at a time when India was still reeling from the tremors left by the 1999 Kargil War. Besides, even as the country’s cinematic landscape evolved slowly, the impact of JP Dutta’s Border (1997) had yet to wane, and “Sandeshe Aate Hai” had yet to disappear from the lips of the masses. During this period, Dutta was busy making LOC: Kargil (2003), his next epic historical war film, another multi-starrer like Border.

Director Vinayan must have thought, “Why can’t we also do the same in Malayalam?” And he is not just a dreamer, guys; he is an achiever. But there’s a catch: not only is he not JP Dutta, but since his last few movies were abominations like Oomappenninu Uriyadappayyan (2002), Kattuchembakam (2002), and Meerayude Dukhavum Muthuvinte Swapnavum (2003), it probably must have been impossible for him to get Malayalam cinema’s equivalent of Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, and Suniel Shetty for his Border.

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But since he couldn’t compromise on star power either, Vinayan did something no one would ever expect. He put Dileep, a big star at the time, at the centre and surrounded him with familiar actors who mostly played character and comedy roles. They aren’t bad actors; in fact, Kalabhavan Mani, Vijayaraghavan, Prabhu, Siddique, Sai Kumar, and Jagadish are phenomenal performers. However, War and Love underscores that an actor is only as good as the director.

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Here, they all look clueless, almost like wind-up toys doing exactly and solely what they are told. Forget actors preparing for their roles; I have strong reasons to doubt that Vinayan and J Pallassery wrote the script on the go, based on whatever was available on set, without giving two hoots about authenticity or accurate portrayal.

The unintentional comedy of War and Love

Early on, we see Major Rajendran (Suresh Krishna) being killed by a group of terrorists near the border. Here’s the thing: it’s okay to take creative liberties for cinematic effect, but completely throwing logic out the window and expecting people to play along is too much.

Despite standing right next to a time bomb when it goes off, Rajendran is shown getting back on his feet and shooting at the terrorists seconds later. And those terrorists, who were standing just a few feet away when the bomb exploded, appear completely unscathed — there’s not even a bit of dust on their clothes, let alone any injuries. Did they make a bomb or a firecracker?

War and Love is essentially marred by abysmal drama, ridiculous dialogues, and amateur plot devices. (Credit: IMDb)

Then, when the opening credits appear, we see shoddily animated tanks, jets, and combat helicopters. This could be considered directorial brilliance, as, in hindsight, they foreshadow the pathetic production design, where oddly painted large pipes are passed off as bazookas.

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In one scene, we see a group of Pakistan Army personnel arriving in India and taking a bunch of villagers hostage. We hear that they entered the country by deceiving the BSF. But we see them wearing their Army uniforms right beneath their civilian clothing. Why would they do that for a high-stakes mission? And did Vinayan think that the Indian Army is incapable of noticing something so simple?

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Malayalam supremacy!

Conveniently, the Indian Army troop sent for a counter-operation consists mostly of Malayalees, which justifies most of the dialogue being in Malayalam. But the convenience doesn’t end there. For the romance subplot, Captain Gopinath (Dileep) falls in love with Serina (Laila), the daughter of Pakistan Army General Jaffer Khan (Mukesh Rishi). To make their interactions in Malayalam, Vinayan again uses his “brilliance” and gives Jaffer Khan Kerala roots. Tapping into Islamophobic narratives, it is shown that Jaffer’s father originally hailed from Malappuram, a Muslim-majority district in the state.

Had the movie been released today, the right-wing would have hailed it as yet another Dhurandhar (2025) that “exposed” Pakistan’s connections to Kerala, with even the Army General and his daughter speaking in Malayalam. And we Malayali millennials would have lived to see the internet swarming with “peak detailing by Vinayan Sir” theories.

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War and Love is essentially marred by abysmal drama, ridiculous dialogues, and amateur plot devices. Since the movie features far too many comedy actors, Vinayan also throws in “jokes” once in a while. Even though the written jokes in the script aren’t even a tad funny, War and Love unknowingly compensates for this: the serious moments are so poorly made they make us ROFL.

If Saving Private Ryan’s opening sequence is “peak cinema,” War and Love’s climax is “weak cinema,” where every time a bomb blasts, people standing nearby jump and fall back to create the effect of being thrown away.

Not only do the AK-47s look like they were made from cheap plastic, but the way most actors hold the guns is so hilarious that one can’t help but laugh while watching War and Love.

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The ‘Avengers’ of Malayalam cinema

This movie is almost like the Avengers — if the superheroes had zero superpowers or any swagger. Prabhu is Captain America, but no one really listens to his orders properly. If he tells one of his jawans not to do something, the latter does exactly that and dies, as Sai Kumar did.

Dileep is Iron Man, but his stunts are comical. Jagadish is Thor, who doesn’t even know how to hold Mjolnir properly. Kalabhavan Mani is Hulk, who is all talk and no smash. Indraja is Black Widow, but just there for some female power in the cast.

I think Vinayan considers himself the “S Shankar of Malayalam cinema” — a trailblazer who introduced several never-before-seen elements to the industry. But the only issue is that nobody actually wanted to see any of these things. But sadly, life doesn’t always go according to our wishes, right?

By the way, I feel like we have been completely ignoring Telugu cinema? That’s unfair, given the industry’s immense “contribution.” Next week, let’s look at the “power” of Telugu cinema through NT Rama Rao Jr.

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Memories of Blunder is a column in which we dissect some of the worst South Indian movies and performances of all time. No offence to anyone whose name surfaces here. They may all have potential, but they blew it that one time. However, don’t play the song if you can’t face the music, right?