Shershaah movie director: Vishnu Vardhan
Shershaah movie cast: Sidharth Malhotra (Capt. Vikram Batra), Kiara Advani (Dimple Cheema), Shiv Panditt (Capt. Sanjeev Jamwal), Sahil Vaid (Amit)
OTT: Amazon Prime
Movie buffs in India incline to any and every genre. But battlefield films have a different charm. Be it Lakshya or Uri, movies capturing the indomitable and the very audacious Indian forces push our souls into a trance. The ear-splitting war-cries, the spark radiating from the eyes of our valiant heroes who are about to thrash the arch-rivals, the triumphing hands clenching the Indian tricolour, and the sight of the Indian Tricolour draping around the cadavers of martyred soldiers are more than sufficient to give us goosebumps for a good 15-20 minutes after the movie has ended. But I didn’t feel the same after watching Shershaah or even during the movie. No doubt, yeh dil wanted much more!
Being an NCC cadet, Capt. Vikram Batra (PVC) has always rung a familiar bell for me. When it comes to describing the Kargil war, like me, most people would land in an ineffable state. However, Shershaah didn’t provide the pace to get into a speechless state.
CASTING
When it comes to biopics, finding the apt cast is a must. The director is labelled as not delivering justice to the person whose life the biopic is being made. While some praised Siddharth Malhotra for playing Capt. Vikram Batra (PVC), a lot of film critics felt that he didn’t fit like a glove. Probably, Vicky Kaushal’s spectacular appearance in Uri was what Shershaah needed in the first place. In addition, Kiara as Dimple Cheema seemed to lack the typical ‘Sikhni’ charm.
ICONIC DIALOGUE DELIVERY | YEH DIL WANTED MUCH MORE!
I am no expert in judging dialogue delivery, but good dialogue delivery is what the audience demands when it comes to iconic statements. The film had a rendition of three iconic statements of Capt. Vikram Batra (PVC): “A soldier lives by chance, loves by choice and kills the enemy by profession”; “Yeh Dil Maange More!”; “Ya toh tiranga lehra ke aaunga, ya tirange mae lipta aaunga. Lekin wapas zarur aaunga.”
While in an attempt to rephrase these, the charm was somewhere lost.
CLIMAX – DIMPLE OVER CAPT. BATRA | YEH DIL WANTED MUCH MORE!
India cast an exemplary victory in the Kargil war against the Pakistani troops. Above all, we had recaptured point 5140 and peak 4875 (now called ‘Captain Vikram Batra Top’). Mortally wounded, we see Captain Batra passed away after completing the mission in a manner that etched his name alongside some of India’s greatest military heroes. But the background music ruined the very last chance of getting goosebumps. “Mann Bharaya” managed to garner all the attention towards Dimple rather than the real hero.
On a whole, “Shershaah” might have managed to make Capt. Vikram Batra was a household name but yeh dil had expected more!
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