Rating : ⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre : Drama
Year : 2021
Running time : 2 hours 15 minutes
Director : Vishnuvardhan
Cast : Sidharth Malhotra, Kiara Advani
Kid rating : PG
Shershaah is based on Param Vir Chakra awardee Captain Vikram Batra’s life and valor. So we know what’s about to happen. As such what was needed was an inspiring, energetic film which could bring to screen the passion of the brave, young Captain. Unfortunately, Shershaah is a rather staid affair, even a little boring at times.
Even as a young boy Vikram Batra knows what he wants to be – a soldier in the Indian Army. As a young man Batra is posted at Sopore with the JAK Rifles. There he makes his mark by capturing and killing a dreaded terrorist and then is sent to capture Point 5140 during the Kargil war. After that successful mission he volunteers for the mission to re-capture Point 4875, and is martyred.
Shershaah is not a war movie, it’s a war procedural, laying out before us a flat sequence of events, one after another. It never quite gathers up steam, develops an energy or displays the intensity which a film like this so sorely needs. Yes, Vikram Batra is a brave young man, hungry to defeat the enemy – but we know that by the dialogs only. There is little accompanying fervor to give credibility to that hunger. And as much as I might fault Bollywood for overdone jingoism, this film needed some jingoistic war-cries, some rebel yells, some emotion!
The film starts off with a recounting of events by Vikram’s twin brother. He narrates the events of Vikram’s life and while these fill most of the movie, they are interspersed with some romantic moments. These romantic interludes make the film choppy in the first half, because they interrupt the action, and we can’t quite get the rhythm going. The film does gather some steam with the missions to recapture Point 5140 and 4875, although it’s a little too late to save the film.
Shershaah also suffers from inadequate characterization. Vikram Batra is a hero, so there is a natural empathy and appreciation for his character. The film though cannot humanize him or make him relatable. Yes, we see his interaction with his comrades and his family but it is mostly superficial. His time with his girlfriend is marked by some cheesy, Bollywood style dialogues so that’s no use.
Sidharth Malhotra is miscast as a feisty, young man given to jocular asides. He is an average actor, and while this is fine for depicting suave-young-men-about-town (I quite liked his performance in Kapoor & Sons), Batra’s character needed to be essayed with some heft. Also he can’t quite carry off the comedic overtures. Kiara Advani plays Dimple Cheema, the love interest. Advani is versatile (we recently saw her in Good Newwz) but is hampered by the poor writing. Her character is drawn wafer thin, and brings with it classic Bollywood melodrama we could have done without – the cross-community love opposed by the parents, the sindoor-bhari maang etc.
The only moving part of the film was the scene towards the end, with the traditional Army salute to a fallen soldier, when we see the distraught family mourning the 25 year old Batra, his casket wrapped in the Indian tricolor. It was also hard to see the numerous lives lost in the war.
In summary, while Shershaah does improve marginally towards the second half, it remains flat, an oxymoron: a staid war film.
Kidwise: This is a war film, so violence, involving guns, knives, bombs etc. One brief scene with the couple in bed, although nothing explicit is shown on screen.
