Shershaah, apparently to be perceived as a war drama, derailed way off to deliver a brand new depiction of a heroic tale that has been present beneath the sun for the last two decades.
Storyline
Narrated by Vikram Batra’s twin brother, Vishal Batra (additionally performed by Sidharth Malhotra), Shershaah seems scattered in its first half. The childhood depiction of Batra’s life seems simply a strive to inform people why he chose the Army, as scenes fail to create any emotional heft.
The Movie begins with a highlight of the final war, which makes you hold onto the screen, however within the first five minutes, it loses all its charm. Moving forward, the scenes expand to Vikram’s heroic deeds to begin within Sopore (his first posting), and the amazing camaraderie together along with his seniors and juniors alike.
The tale additionally dives right into a flashback of Chandigarh college, where the lad Vikram, falls in love with a classmate, Dimple Cheema (Kiara Advani). Campus romance blossoms and the film seems like a Dharma romance’s family drama. But those are some supposedly “charming” quantities of Sidharth as Vikram Batra when outside the battlefield.
With the war scenes that follow, Shershaah makes up for its mishaps in the second half and Shershaah strikes something which was expected. A proper half-hour, in the end, is non-prevent combat, much of it graphic and realistic. Director Vishnuvardhan and writer Sandeep Srivastava waste no time establishing Vikram as a model soldier from scene one.
Elements
The film features some super dialogues, like – “Ho tayyaar? Karoge vaar?, “Meri cheez mere se koi nahi cheen sakta” or “No one will die on my watch again,” which Vikram tells Captain Sanjeev “Jimmy” Jamwal (Shiv Pandit). “If there is any casualty other than the enemy, it’ll be me,” Vikram completes, and lastly, “Live by chance, love by choice and kill by profession”, Vikram’s motto as a soldier. With super flavour in music with artists like Tanishk Bagchi, B Praak, Jaani, Jasleen Royal, Javed-Mohsin, and Vikram Montrose.
Whether younger officer’s boss, Lt. Col Y.K. Joshi (Shitaf Figar) or Vikram’s six-month senior officer Jimmy, in addition to several other officers’ characters, are closely underwritten. The actors gambling those secondary roles – Shiv Pandit, Nikitin Dheer, Anil Charanjeett – have only stray scenes to make their presence count.
Sidharth Malhotra shines in the war scenes and his overall performance evolves through the film. Efforts to recreate the aura appearance throughout. Kiara Advani seems best as a determined Sardarni, who loves her guy with all her heart.
Final Word
Thankfully, Shershaah does not try to showcase any chest-thumping and flag-waving but rather it celebrates an intrepid soldier. The hero isn’t, however, given to both superficial swagger or bellicose bravado. He is the form of a clear-headed man, who knows what he was given to do and chips away at it with unwavering intent. The film seems to tap into the tragedy of a life cut short by war, as also into the guts and glory inherent in Captain Batra’s splendid sacrifice.
Co-produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and streaming on Amazon Prime Video, this War drama leaves you with “Yeh dil mange more”. Either as a catchphrase or need for a better film.
