An exotic reworking of the gangster-gets-guilty genre, Asif Kapadia’s sumptuous film traces the story of Indian warrior Lafcadia (Khan), the head of a small but devastatingly effective band of enforcers employed by a tyrannical Genghis Khan inspired overlord.

As chief thug-for-hire, Lafcadia is expected to take a leading role in a raping and pillaging capacity when the gang are sent to level a village late with its tributes. Unfortunately for him though, the guy just doesn’t have the stomach for the job anymore, and when he spares a young girl’s life and flees the carnage, he effectively signs his own death warrant. To escape the wrath of his former master he journeys to the Himalayas, befriending a young thief (Mani) and a blind mystic (Marfatia) along the way. His one time colleagues however, are all the while in hot pursuit.

From the hypnotic trance-like opening titles, The Warrior is a sublime affair boasting beautifully composed shots of scorched deserts overlooked by imposing mountains and icescapes. Fear not though, this is no mere picture-postcard flick, or Baraka-like exercise in cultural tourism. Rather this may be the best spaghetti western since Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood stopped making movies together, with a dash of Japanese samurai flavouring for good measure.

As a result, this is the kind of blood-thirsty revenge play that Gladiator should have been, but wasn’t even close. Truly epic.