Junior NTR's Bollywood debut with War 2 turned into a major setback. The film struggled at the box office and attracted heavy criticism online.
Many viewers felt the content offered easy troll material, which added to the negative buzz around NTR's debut.
Industry discussions now revolve around whether the project choice itself worked against him. Some feel the decision to partner with Ayan Mukerjee may not have been ideal at this stage of his Hindi film career. Although Ayan has delivered films like Wake Up Sid and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, handling two superstars like NTR and Hrithik Roshan requires a very different approach.
A few trade analysts believe that a filmmaker like Aditya Dhar, who is earning praise for Dhurandhar, might have been a better fit. They argue that he could have shaped a more stable and impactful product for NTR's first Bollywood outing. This is largely based on Dhar's style of storytelling and visual clarity.
From this perspective, many believe NTR may have misjudged the tone and vision required for War 2. Had he chosen a film with the narrative style and visual depth of Dhurandhar, the result might have been more favourable. These opinions focus purely on the craft, storytelling, and cinematic treatment, not on the political or patriotic themes of the films mentioned.