On the eve of the 75th Independence Day, we have a couple of nationalistic movies hitting the screens to celebrate the valour of those brave men & women to whom we are indebted to for the freedom that we experience. However, it would be hard not to admit that over the past few years; the so called 'gate keepers of patriotism' believes in public display of nationalism which at most times feels nothing more than hollow trumpets rather than an inherent spirit in the proper sense. Anywaz among the two flicks, Vishnuvardhan's "Shershaah" that released on Amazon is the one that is reviewed here & as all of you are aware, it is the biopic of the Param Vir Chakra awardee Captain Vikram Batra. The valour of this incredible soldier continues to inspire many even after two decades of his sacrifice, so was the movie able to do justice to this brave son???
Well there isnt much need to give a gist of the movie as it is basically the journey of Captain Vikram Batra from his childhood until the day he laid down his life for us. This is Vishnuvardhan's directorial debut in Bollywood though for many of us in the South, he has quite a well known name with movies like "Billa", "Aarambham" etc., to his credit. There is no doubt that Vishnu has done a fine job in his choice of artists as almost of them have done their parts well which makes the movie endearing to the audience. At the same time, the war segmentsjust didn't have the impact that was worthy of celebrating Batra's valour. With Dharma Productions funding the project, the war sequences could have been much more impactful & both Vishnu as well as Sandeep Srivastava who penned the script ought to have been much more imaginative.
On the technical side, it was pretty impressive be it Kamaljeet Negi's cinematography, Sreekar Prasad's editing & John Stewart's score that gelled with the drama. The main focus was undoubtedly on the protagonist which was essayed by Sidharth Malhotra who has done utmost justice to the role & I personally feel this is his best performance to date. The earnestness & exuberance that he brought to the character captures the lively spirit of Captain Batra. In a movie like this, the romantic sequences are invariably slammed by most but even then there are some portions in this that felt fine & that is primarily due to the chemistry between Sidharth & Kiara Advani. The latter has done a fine job along with the numerous characters that played the part of the soldiers which if I go on to type in will make this review extremely long.
Verdict: If Abhishek Bachchan did a good job portraying Captain Batra in "LOC:Kargil", then Sidharth has nailed it hands down. There is no doubt that the movie is made reasonably well & deserves a watch. But there was scope for much more & more importantly, it deserved as well. In short, yeh dil maange more!!!
Rating: 2.75/5
Regards...Ben
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