REVIEW:SHERSHAAH

Producers-Karan Johar and Shabbir Boxwala

Director-Vishnuvardhan Kulashekharan

Star Cast- Siddharth Malhotra, Kiara Advani, Himanshu Ashok Malhotra, Shiv Panditt, Mir Sarwar, Anil Chiranjeett, Nikitan Dheer

Genre- Biopic

OTT Platform- Amazon Prime Video

Rating- ***1/2

Real & Raw!

Jyothi Venkatesh

The film Shershaah sets out to chronicle brilliantly the series of events in the run up to the Kargil war and the role of Captain Vikram Batra (PVC), whose indomitable spirit and unparalleled courage contributed immensely to India’s victory.

If you wonder what on earth the meaning of Shershaah is, let me clarify that it is the code word of Captain Vikram Batra during the war.

Essentially the film revolves around how the Param Veer Chakra winner sets out to recapture Pt 4875 at the young age of just 24

We are taken to the childhood period of Vikram initially and later to the teen period of Captain Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra) and shown his growing up years, to enable us to know how he finds the love of his life Dimple Cheema (Kiara Advani), before he is finally posted at the 13 JAK Rifles as a Lieutenant.

This elaborate build-up just to depict the character’s journey doesn’t merit so much screen time.

Among all the actors, it is Sidharth Malhotra who sets out to shine in the war scenes and it is a pleasant revelation to the viewer for the first time that his performance evolves through the film.

His earnest effort to recreate the aura of his character’s larger-than-life persona shows on screen and I would not be wrong to say that this is one of his better performances.

Kiara Advani as the cute but at the same time resolute Sardarni, who loves her man with all her heart, manages to score in her small role though she does not have any major scene where she can get her teeth into.

Shiv Panditt reprises his tough role as Captain Sanjeev Jamwal, who is tough on the outside, but extremely emotional from within.

Nikitin Dheer is impressive as the cheerful Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia but unfortunately he has not been saddled with a role that would do proper justice to his caliber as an actor.

Shataf Figar as the straight talking Col. Yogesh Kumar Joshi is just about okay while Himanshu Ashok Malhotra disappoints with a role that does not at all give him any scope to perform in any way.

Anil Charanjeett shines in a brief role as Naib Subedar Bansilal Sharma and leaves a big impact while Mir Sarwar is good as usual though he is getting typecast as a treacherous Pakistani in every film, Bijoy Anand is good as Dimple Cheema’s father

I would say that the film Shershaah’s biggest victory is that it makes an effort to recreate one of the most important chapters of our recent history with characters, who led the way to a rousing climax in a very natural and effortless manner, without in any way overdramatizing the sequences told or being melodramatic at all.

On the whole, Shershaah is worth watching as it is real and raw and what’s more, a fitting tribute to our Independence Day.