Cast and review
The film is a biopic on Captain Vikram Batra who gave his life fighting bravely in the 1999 Kargil war. He was a celebrated officer in the Indian Army. The film documents his journey through his ranks in the Indian army and how he braved many battles before overpowering the enemies in the Kargil war. The film is directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Shaju Ignatius, Apoorva Mehta and Somesh Shivraj. The music is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.
The star cast of the film includes Kiara Advani, Sidharth Malhotra, Pawan Chopra, Ankita Goraya, Sahil Vaid, Trishaan, Manmeet Kaur, Shataf Figar, Pravin Singh Sisodia, Atul Singh Verma and Rahaao.
When Lieutenant Vikram Batra gets his first posting in Kashmir and reaches the base, he greets his seniors and juniors with a salute and a smile. That smile never leaves his lips when he speaks to local Kashmiris, with whom he forms a bond not often seen in our films depicting the volatile relationship between the State and the Army. The same smile is plastered on his face when he talks about returning “after hosting the tricolour” or “wrapped up in a tricolour” as he leaves home for the Kargil war front. It is this nature of Vikram Batra that Shershaah decides to train its focus on. Of course, we see his courageous exploits during the war that are now the stuff of legend. Of course, we see his daredevil attitude as he brazenly puts his life at risk to eliminate threats. But it is the emotional moments that ring louder. We know of Vikram Batra, the valourous soldier, through newspapers, interviews, and film adaptations like LOC: Kargil. Now, through Shershaah, we know Vikram Batra, the child, the lover, the friend, and the ever-giving soul.
The story begins with the end. Vikram is on the anvil of sacrificing his life for the country in the process of recapturing Point 4875. But before the inevitable happens, we are taken a decade or so back to be introduced to a cricket-playing kid from Palampur. A fiercely territorial kid, who grows up watching Chetan Anand’s celebrated TV series, Param Vir Chakra, and wants to become a fauji. These portions, which are a bit too expository, serve as reasoning for why Vikram never flinches putting himself first in the line of danger. This is followed by an insight into his acclimatisation in Kashmir and from there a small detour back to his love story with Dimple (an impressive Kiara Advani). The writer, Sandeep Shrivastava, employs a decent strategy in retelling a story repeated many times on our screen. By giving us glimpses of what we know about the soldier, and alternating it with newer perspectives of the man beneath the uniform, Shershaah definitely keeps us invested.
The story begins with the end. Vikram is on the anvil of sacrificing his life for the country in the process of recapturing Point 4875. But before the inevitable happens, we are taken a decade or so back to be introduced to a cricket-playing kid from Palampur. A fiercely territorial kid, who grows up watching Chetan Anand’s celebrated TV series, Param Vir Chakra, and wants to become a fauji. These portions, which are a bit too expository, serve as reasoning for why Vikram never flinches putting himself first in the line of danger. This is followed by an insight into his acclimatisation in Kashmir and from there a small detour back to his love story with Dimple (an impressive Kiara Advani). The writer, Sandeep Shrivastava, employs a decent strategy in retelling a story repeated many times on our screen. By giving us glimpses of what we know about the soldier, and alternating it with newer perspectives of the man beneath the uniform, Shershaah definitely keeps us invested.
While designating the code names to his squad, Lt Colonel Y K Joshi assigns a Maharana Pratap, a Charaka, a Sangram, a Chanakya but when it's Shershaah's turn, there's a moment's pause as though anticipating a drumroll followed by a triumphant guitar tune.
The movie is a paean to his brave deeds and makes no bones about it.
Some heroes become legends with the passage of time but Captain Vikram Batra's star was on the rise even when he was fighting the enemy across the border during the Kargil War of 1999.
His jaw-dropping valour in recapturing crucial points contributed to India's sure shot victory over Pakistan -- a role that is etched in Indian history, a role that was honoured with the prestigious Param Vir Chakra, a role that he died fulfilling at the young age of 24.
Back in 2003, J P Dutta's unwieldy multistarrer LoC-Kargil recreated the events and cast Abhishek Bachchan to play the decorated soldier. Bachchan did a fine job but it was an overstuffed project and collapsed under the weight of its own ambitions.
In comparison, Shershaah's single-minded focus on Captain Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra) acquaints us with his exuberant, go-getter impulses bordering on reckless as he defies rules and teases protocol drawing attention to his innate guts, tactical prowess and a watchful eye that sees more than it lets on.
From his indecision in picking between a lucrative career in the merchant navy or joining the armed forces in pursuance of his lifelong dream, to starting out as a daredevil lieutenant at 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles and getting promoted to the rank of captain in two years and leading a successful operation at Kargil in the history of mountain warfare, Batra accomplished a fair bit.
A restless energy envelops him, not too uncommon in twenty-somethings eager to act and conquer.
There's glamour in greatness and Batra who has grown up watching fellow Palampur native and the first recipient of Param Vir Chakra, Major Somnath Sharma eulogised in Farooq Shaikh's skin and Chetan Anand's television series, is gleefully aspiring for it.
There's a good deal of him to discover outside the military turf as well.
While his close ties to his parents, two sisters and twin brother are disappointingly peripheral, the handsome romantic's Punjabi-speaking flirtations around Dimple (Kiara Advani), a comely Sardarni he meets while studying in Chandigarh form the heart of Shershaah's spirited tale.
This is the meatiest role of Sidharth Malhotra's career and the man sure enough gives it his all.
There's charm, swagger, warmth, empathy, verve, authority -- a lively portrait of a lion, a legend.
Let's say if Shah Rukh Khan was an emotion, Sidharth channels his to the brim.
Add to that his smooth chemistry around Kiara Advani, which exudes a much-in-love air that makes the impending doom all the more upsetting to bear. Meanwhile, Kiara's light, luminous elegance helps overlook some of its slit-finger sindoor cheesiness.
Props to Cinematographer Kamaljeet Negi for bringing some novel perspective to scenes of love and war, especially where he frames his shots through narrow passages or focuses on his protagonists against striking backdrops.
The combat scenes are ably executed and opt for a raw urgency over slick impact, but Shershaah completely neglects to address the difficulty of fighting in Kargil's complex climatic and logistical conditions.
Creative liberties for the sake of drama are a given, but Director Vishnu Vardhan (at the helm of Tamil hits like Billa, Arrambam) refrains from grating jingoism and faithfully resurrects all of Batra's moments and maxims -- chants of Durge Mata Ki Jai, crossfire and cracks over Madhuri Dixit and his stoic belief -- You live by chance, love by choice and kill by profession.
Though it isn't above banalities like the mandatory childhood flashback of a mini me of the future you, dodgy, one-note nemesis and his politics of opportunism, the Kashmiri local lamb who has lost his way until the do-gooder hero intervenes, the sight of a herdsman in the valley signalling towards an ominous occurrence or the jinx of the picture shared by an army man inevitably ends in a life cut short.
Batra's colleagues (only a sombre Shiv Pandit registers) didn't hold back in gallantry, something the end credits attest amply but are relegated to awestruck teammates.
Having said that, Shershaah is at its most compelling when going with the flow of its central character's spontaneous instincts.
The minute it tries to explain, emphasise and remind us who said what and when, it dilutes a perfectly poignant moment. And Vishnu Vardhan goes significantly overboard in magnifying the martyr moment, blazing guns and all.
Except you know what?
I was moved to tears.
Sidharth and Kiara dig beyond the heroics and bring out the human.
He is as dear as he was daring.
In fact, Director Vishnu Varadhan had a major role to play in justifying a large amount of data and important steps in the Kargil war, but many questions will be addressed in the second half. Sidharth Malhotra shines in the veil of war and his performance changes as the film progresses. His great efforts to repeat the aura of the character-great-life-character of the character are shown on screen and this is one of his best achievements. Kiara Advani looks at her role as a fierce Sardarni who loves her husband with all her heart. But he doesn’t have many options.Kargil Crisis - The Most Difficult Mountain War! Faced at a dizzying height of 17,000 feet, much was at stake in this historic battle. Pakistani troops hiding when Kashmiri militants invaded the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC). The fighting quickly turned into a full-fledged war that also marked the departure of soldiers from the lieutenant to the captain because of his bold and patriotic spirit flying tricolor at the highest point of the conflict. Even if it means giving up your own life for that reason.
But before he could get there, director Vishnu Varadhan and his screenwriter Sandeep Srivastava let him go. We are brought back in sequence from the childhood of Captain Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra) and show how he grew up, how he found the love of his life Dimple Cheema (Kiara Advani), before finally joining the 13 JAK Guns as a Lieutenant. While this setting represents the character's journey, there is no intention to save a lot of screen time. In fact, Kiara Advani's songs and romantic songs also sound like a nuisance from a difficult topic. It also affects the speed of the film, which is subjected to the first half slowly.
Shiv Pandit is best portrayed as Captain Sanjeev Jamwal, who is bright on the outside but emotional on the inside. Nikitin Dheer impresses Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia and Shataf Figar as chatter Colonel Yogesh Kumar Joshi. Together, these guys form a competent team that will keep you entertained all the time. Among the many other characters of the actor, there are also cliches and misconceptions, especially on the Pakistani side.
The overall sound of the film is definitely very patriotic. Many war scenes do not show the big screen on which the film is based and perhaps deserve more cinematic experience. However, as an industry, Voice has been releasing epic war movies that have received notoriety and publicity. By these standards, Shershaah occupies a higher position than most recent war dramas and narrates an inspiring story that must be told.
Shershaah has turned out to be a milestone of sorts in Sidharth Malhotra's acting career. The actor, who started his journey in Bollywood with Student Of The Year, is presently riding high on the success of his movie. In Shershaah, Sidharth played the role of Kargil hero Captain Vikram Batra and his twin brother Vishal Batra's characters. Not just Sidharth, even his rumoured girlfriend Kiara Advani is being praised for the way she essayed Dimple Cheema on the screen.
More than 10 days after Shershaah released on an OTT platform, the salaries of the film's star cast has been revealed. Needless to add, Sidharth is reportedly the highest-paid actor of the film.
As per a Bollywoodlife report, the actor apparently got Rs 7 crore to essay Vikram Batra's character in the film. On the other hand, Kiara reportedly earned Rs 4 crore to play Dimple Cheema's part. As far as Nikitin Dheer is concerned, the actor apparently charged Rs 35 lakh for the film. He played Ajay Singh Jasrotia in the movie.
0 Comments