Also starring Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor, ‘Fighter’ will be released in theaters in January.

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Image via Viacom18 Studios
The Big Picture
Bollywood director Siddharth Anand delivers another action-thriller with A-list stars Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, and Anil Kapoor.
The teaser reveals intense aerial combat sequences and hints at a budding romance between the characters played by Roshan and Padukone.
Fighter marks a return to more accessible cinema for Roshan, who needs a hit after his last film under-performed at the box office.

From Bollywood director Siddharth Anand, who delivered the biggest hit of his career earlier this year — the Shah Rukh Khan vehicle Pathaan — comes a new action-thriller in a similarly patriotic vein. Titled Fighter, the film stars A-listers such as Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor, and appears to draw liberally from the Top Gun movies. The first teaser for Fighter was unveiled on Friday, after months of build-up.

Roshan, who previously worked with Anand on the Knight and Day remake, Bang Bang!, and the YRF Spy Universe hit, War, plays Squadron leader Shamsher ‘Patty’ Pathania. He gets plenty of slo-mo money shots in the teaser, as he struts, snarls and takes to the skies. While the teaser doesn’t reveal much about the plot, it reveals several glimpses of the aerial combat sequences. But nearly equal screen time is devoted to its stars. Padukone, who played a pivotal role in Anand’s Pathaan, stars as Squadron leader Minal ‘Minni’ Rathore, while the veteran Kapoor, who can currently be seen in the blockbuster film Animal, plays Group captain Rakesh Jai ‘Rocky’ Singh.

The teaser ends with a quick burst of shots that reveal a funeral, huge explosions, and, as is customary for big-budget Bollywood movies, glamorous song-and-dance numbers. While one appears to have been set in a club, another takes place on a beach. We’re also shown the briefest glimpse at a budding romance between Patty and Minni, and it looks like fans of Padukone’s “Besharam Rang” song from Pathaan will have something to look forward to.