‘Tejas’ Review: An Aviation Thriller With More Missions Than There Is Logic

Watching Tejas is not even about wondering 'Are you allowed to do that?', it's mostly about asking, 'Why would anyone possibly do that?'

Kangana Ranaut plays Tejas Gill, a skilled IAF pilot who was beyond herself with joy when the 'Tejas' airplanes were introduced. In Tejas, the pilot with the same name, the planes, and the mission with (again) the same name are in focus. Everything else enters and exits the story whenever the makers deem fit. 

It's not even the fact that most of the film makes no sense technically, it's the fact that the execution comes across as woefully juvenile. Even if we are to ignore the childish VFX (some of it is half-decent) or the hammy dialogues, it's difficult to find any respite because of the constantly choppy editing. 

Gill is ambitious and full of fiery confidence – one of her training officers tells a senior official, "If the mission is easy, don't send Tejas but if it's really difficult, she's the one you should send." He ends with a warning that she doesn't always follow orders. This still makes for good cinema when she disregards orders to save someone's life early on – the wisecracking rebel is a beloved staple of cinema. But when she goes on one mission after another, with little to no planning or regard for international relations, it becomes clear that the film only cares about heroics. 

Tejas' training days are touched upon (and are some of the film's best scenes) and we see her tackle a personal loss. The latter is on of the few scenes where we see Kangana Ranaut as an actor peek through. Otherwise, it's distressingly over-the-top and not in the good Tanu Weds Manu way. 

Soon Tejas is put in-charge of a mission to rescue an Indian agent from Pakistan. But there are zero to no stakes. There is nobody smarter than Tejas. Even when the team carries out a mission in foreign soil and uses a screen to shield precious information, you can't help but wonder, can nobody see it from the sides? There is so much that can be done in a film about an inspirational female Wing Commander in the IAF but this is clearly not that film. 

The film's best parts are Tejas' relationships with the people around them – be it a chance encounter with a rockstar (Varun Mitra) or her incredible chemistry with her co-pilot and friend Afiya (Anshul Chauhan). Chauhan acts out her scenes with an ease that makes her character one of the most memorable ones – she also has good comic timing. It's a pity the film doesn't let her or Tejas rise above an one-dimensional structure. 

When we are introduced to Tejas' family, we get a glimpse into what makes her the person she is but it is just that... a glimpse. We never get to see what Tejas' motivations as a person are. As a soldier, she strives to make the world a better place and protect her country but what does Tejas stand for?

And right when you think the film has come to a logical end, it hasn't. It's like the end credits are the horizon and you're trying to fly to it but you are becoming increasingly afraid that you never might. 

Credit where credit is due though, Tejas has a great album – 'Dil Hai Ranjhana' by Rashmeet Kaur and Shashwat Sachdev, 'Jaan Da' by Arijit Singh and Sachdev, and the soulful 'Reh Jao Na' by Hariharan and Sachdev are absolute highlights. 

There are moments when the film makes half-decent arguments. Tejas and Afiya discuss how people will say, "They should've sent men instead" if they fail a mission and there is subtext about how dividing a country's population on any lines is never in its best interests. These discussions too, alas, are lost in translation.

Tejas will have you thinking of Top Gun on more than one occasion. I, personally, couldn't help but marvel at the fact that they'd managed to pull off a film like Top Gun back in 1986.