Film

The Hero: Love Story of a Spy

Name: The Hero: Love Story of a Spy
Genre: Thriller, Action, Adventure, Romance
Released: 2003
Cast: Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Amrish Puri, Kabir Bedi

A 2003 Bollywood spy thriller where an Indian intelligence officer pursues a Pakistani ISI chief plotting nuclear terrorism while searching for his kidnapped fiancée. It's a high-octane action vehicle built around Sunny Deol's intensity—double identities, international intrigue, romance threading through espionage. Made for audiences who want spectacle, patriotic stakes, and the genre thrills of early-2000s Hindi cinema without irony.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy big, unabashed Bollywood spectacle where a muscular action set piece sits happily next to a sincere, old-fashioned love story and a villain who relishes his own scheming.

Skip it if you tire of a 160-minute run and sentiment this cheerfully overblown, or find romance and action that rarely feel like they belong in the same film.

What it asks of you: Settle in for nearly two and a half hours of talky scheming before the big set pieces, with a tone that swings between tender and bombastic.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Border1997

Sunny Deol himself in a masterwork about the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Raw emotion beneath the action—this is what Deol does best, and it shows what he might have achieved with better material in The Hero.

But Deeply martial in its ideology. The romance is almost incidental. Nearly three hours of very earnest cinema.

Mission: Impossible1996

The gold standard for spy thrillers with double identities and government betrayal. Taut, clever, endlessly inventive. Shows you what the espionage-intrigue plot can do in the hands of a master.

But Completely different tone—cool and architectural rather than passionate. Might make The Hero feel overheated by comparison.

Chandni1989

Yash Chopra's romanticism at its peak, with Preity Zinta's co-star Shahrukh Khan in iconic form. Shows you the cinematic language of longing and separation that Bollywood uses. A masterclass in the romance half of the equation.

But Almost no plot by modern standards. Pure emotion and music. If you're watching for action or incident, you'll be frustrated.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Hero: Love Story of a Spy

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Raazi2018

Both hinge on espionage across the India-Pakistan border, but Raazi interrogates what that conflict actually means through character rather than asserting it through spectacle. Where The Hero splits love and duty, Raazi shows how they might genuinely war within one person.

A Pakistani bride becomes an Indian spy after Partition. Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal in a thriller that inverts every assumption: the woman is the operative, Pakistan is not pure evil, love and duty complicate rather than clarify. It's everything The Hero wanted to be.

But Slower-burn than action thrillers. The spy work is cerebral rather than physical. If you wanted Sunny Deol fighting, this will disappoint you.

Lakshya2004

Hrithik Roshan as an aimless soldier who finds purpose through military duty. More grounded than The Hero, exploring similar themes of national service and personal redemption through the Kargil conflict.

But Slower paced. The army stuff overwhelms the romantic plot. Requires patience with character development.

Death Race2008

Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna in a globe-trotting thriller packed with betrayals, reversals, and Preity Zinta being brilliant. Fast, cynical, and gleefully plot-heavy in ways The Hero aspires to.

But The tone is arch and somewhat hollow. Character logic takes a back seat to surprise reveals. Some people find that exhausting.

Rang De Basanti2006

Young Indians grappling with national purpose and corruption. Aamir Khan at his most charismatic. The action sequences feel earned rather than grafted on. Patriotic cinema that doesn't require turning your brain off.

But Shifts genre midway. The political second half alienates viewers who came for youth cinema. Some find its ideology heavy-handed.

Raees2017

Shahrukh Khan as a smuggler operating at the India-Pakistan border. Similar geographic and moral stakes as The Hero, but from the other side. Slick, violent, surprisingly sympathetic to its antagonist.

But Runs nearly 150 minutes and drags in places. The romance feels decorative. The geography of the plot can confuse.

Escape Plan2013

Both are films about experienced agents using intelligence and disguise to outmaneuver an adversary across borders. But where The Hero splits between action and romance, Escape Plan commits entirely to the puzzle of getting out, showing what single-minded focus in this kind of thriller can achieve.

Stallone and Schwarzenegger as career operatives in a high-concept prison break thriller. Better constructed than The Hero, with genuine stakes and creative problem-solving. Old-school action filmmaking that trusts its audience.

But American 2013 action cinema—a completely different scale and sensibility. Might make The Hero feel provincial. Contains violence that's colder than anything in Bollywood.

A Gentle Creature2017

The skeleton of The Hero—an operative crossing a border, marriage and duty in collision, betrayal by governments and institutions—is here stripped to bone and played in reverse, from the perspective of someone destroyed by the same systems. Where The Hero celebrates the agent, this film looks at what his success costs someone else.

A Russian woman crosses into Mongolia illegally to find her imprisoned husband. Played almost entirely in silence, with minimal dialogue. Brutal, patient, morally uncompromising about borders and marriage and what we'll endure for love.

But Glacially slow. Deliberately bleak. No action sequences, no music, barely any plot. Tests whether you want cinema to move or arrest you.