"waar" received positive reviews from critics and became the highest-grossing film in pakistan of all time. rafay mahmood for "the express tribune" gave the movie three out of five stars and commended the cinematography, editing and sound design but viewed critically the story and some performances. according to the review, "waar" is a "piece of pointless propaganda (and) is going to further confuse an already puzzled nation about pakistan's outlook on counter-terrorism. in the long run, it will prove to be a great feature for pakistani cinema but a damaging one for intellect."