The year was 1997. I was barely four years old, too young to remember most things. But one memory remains with me, intense and emotional. It belonged to my grandmother, inside a simple single-screen theater in Bagaha, a small town in Bihar, where watching a movie was no less than a festival.

Going to the movies then was not an impulsive decision taken between meals and meetings. Tickets were booked days in advance, transportation arranged, schedules finalized. Cinema was an event.

What I remember most is not the preparation or the spectacle on screen. This is his cry when messages arrive played in Limit. As the voices of Sonu Nigam and Roop Kumar Rathod echoed in the hall, their emotions ran high, the thoughts of a son-in-law serving in the army, far away from home, posted in parts of the country that were barely accessible in the Bihar of the 1990s. that moment gave away Limit Its soul.

This was not just a war film; It was a bridge between the forces and the families who waited, worried and suffered in silence.

In the last few years, Limit Grew up with me. It became part of my formative years, and later, part of my own preparation as I dreamed of wearing the uniform myself. It taught a generation that patriotism wasn’t loud, flashy or convenient, it was lonely, exhausting, and deeply human.

After twenty-eight years, Sunny Deol is back border 2. Expectations were high, not because audiences wanted big explosions, but because they wanted the same honesty.

Unfortunately, this is where the film falters.

From a storytelling perspective, some liberties can be forgiven, and this is not a review of the film.

Read Border 2 review here

Cinema has always mixed fact and fiction. But when a film claims to respect the armed forces, the scope for carelessness rapidly diminishes, requiring a much more nuanced approach to ensure authenticity and relatability. border 2 Struggles here.

The lack of research is evident, particularly in how operations and inter-service dynamics are portrayed. The aerial scenes suffer from some of the weakest CGI seen in recent mainstream cinema, breaking immersion rather than adding to the tension.

The depiction of the Navy, in particular, feels rushed and artificial, reduced to visual shorthand rather than a complex, professional force with its own doctrine and ethos. At a time when AI is available at a click that can mimic some of the most complex scenes with picture-perfect accuracy, CGI depictions of naval ships, submarines border 2 They start shouting loudly for help.

This is not just a technical complaint. Visual authenticity matters because representation shapes public understanding. At a time when filmmakers have unprecedented access to veterans, military historians, open-source defense analysis, and even official archival materials, such shortcuts seem inexcusable.

There are tools to fix this. When those tools are ignored, the result is not only bad cinema, but also losses.

Tom Cruise waited 36 years to return with Top Gun: Maverick, and that patience shows in every frame, from the depth of the research to the breathtaking visuals and seriousness of approach. Yes, the franchise was heavily backed financially, and no one is comparing with border 2.

But when it comes to preparation, research and implementation, Sunny Deol and… border 2 The Anurag Singh-led team had 28 years of distance, reflection and opportunity, and the film doesn’t reflect that advantage on screen.

What border 2 It ultimately misses the quiet dignity that defined its predecessor. The original film was based on letters, silence, fear and faith. The sequel seems to be more interested in spectacle than substance, noise rather than nuance. In doing so, it loses the emotional thread that once made an entire theater cry in unison.

Limit It was never just about the battlefield. It was about the people behind the uniforms and the families behind them. border 2 More work is needed, not to overtake the original, but to understand why it matters in the first place.

Without that soul, the uniform on screen feels like a costume, not a vocation.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.)