Finally an Indian war film where the locales, the firing, the bunkers, the hand signals and the explosions all look top class! And just when you say Wow… the standard love story, the predictable death of the hero’s friend and superficial writing leaves you agonised. #SidharthMalhotra puts in an honest and charming performance but the sheer inability of the film to break away from the standard Bollywood tropes is what lets this story of the Kargil triumph down.
The remote needs rest. Put it away. Pass_Me_The_Remote reviews Director #VishnuVardhan’s movie #Shershah, released on #AmazonPrimeVideo. This is the story of Captain Vikram Batra, who dies during the Kargil war at the age of 24. He was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra. Captain Batra was a man whose zest for life was absolutely infectious and he summed it up in his own way “Ye dil maange more”.
The Kargil was was fought at 17,000 feet above MSL. What #Shershah does really well is to capture the locations, combat sequences and the raw emotions. DoP Kamaljit Negi ensures that the scenic and serene backdrops are at sharp contrast to the blood and gore in the forefront. The Kargil war was for most Indians the first instance of a televised war in the context of the political tension of that time. Most of us remember journo #BarkhaDutt speaking to the camera nestled amongst the bunkers. #SidharthMalhotra plays a double role - that of Captain Batra as well as his twin, Vishal Batra. The film, in fact, opens in a TED-like talk where Vishal is recounting the life of the braveheart. I must say that #SiddarthMalhotra gives his best and wins you over with sincerity and charm in this role.
The clunky nature of the narrative, starting from the talk and moving back and forth, narrated by the younger brother seems to bog down the story-telling. Writer #SandeepShrivastava focuses on the school days, the romance with Dimple Cheema (#KiaraAdvani) and some predictable pre-war sequences, rather than the palpable tension and the people dynamics of the front-line.
There is one sequence where a junior soldier (Comrade Bansi played by #AnilCharanjit) is recounting to Captain Batra how he is looking forward to holding his child in his own arms for the first time; you can immediately guess that this is setting it up for the the death of the man.
The Bollywood standard romance scenes also distract more than add to either the overall narrative or the persona of the braveheart soldier. In one scene, Captain Batra is seen applying the blood from his sliced thumb to the ‘maang’ of Dimple in a proverbial scene that signifies marriage.
Some refreshing highlights of the film stand out. In one interesting sequence, Captain Batra ruminates on the perils of war. “Ye war badi kutti cheez hai, yaar”. I wish this point had been explored some more. In another sequence, Captain Batra declares “Soldiers live by chance, love by choice and kill by profession”.
Thankfully, there is no Pak bashing that is dialled up. There is only one scene where the soldiers jump over a flag lying in the ground. The typical jingoism of a war movie is eschewed. Editor #ASreekarPrasad does a deft job on the editing front, especially the journey of Vikram Batra from Lieutenant to Captain. The cast includes #NikitinDheer as Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia, #ShivPandit as Captain Sandeep Jamwal and #ShatafFigar as Colonel Yogesh Kumar.
#SherShah is a major leap forward in terms of how war movies are depicted on the Indian screen; eschewing some of the standard romantic tracks and an incisive working up of the characters and scenes could have elevated this film to deliver to its potential. For now,
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