Directed by : Vishnu Vardhan
Main tiranga lehra ke aayun, nahi toh usmein lipat ke aayunga.. lekin aayunga zaroor haan.
Spoilers ahead ...
Based on the life of Captain Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra), a brave Indian Army Officer who got awarded with Param Vir Chakra for his courageous actions during the 1999 Kargil War.
Felt like the cue given to the director was, go somewhere in between Border and URI. As a result, Shershaah isn't melodramatic but it doesn't keep entire focus on war either. I do like how they show Vikram Batra philosophy when facing enemy, always ready to take them down at cost of his own life though it also results in situations where he puts others and civilians lives in danger. However, I wish they showed more about Vikram, surely his personality wasn't limited to this.
His equation with parents or for that matter twin brother is never given importance and its hard to understand why they hide his brother face who is the narrator like we don't know about it.
Two particular war scenes I loved, one was where Vikram leads team to catch terrorist Haider which does give you a dejavu of 'Zero Dark Thirty' capture of Osama to some extent but I will still take it. Other was the strategised mission where the code name of Vikram was 'Shershaah' that happens in two parts and you wish he didn't insist on going for the 2nd one or he would had been alive but then such is life.
One good thing is there's no unwanted caricature Pakistan characters or jingoism shown to please audience. Liked the use of real footage of Vikram where he tells about how he responded to the warning of Pakistani while climbing the hill. Also, use of Atal Bihari Vajpayee speech part was almost a given. What the film does lack however is building up the tension through use of media scenes or even whats going at the other side on Pakistan streets.
I couldn't really love any actor playing role of senior or junior to Vikram, not because they acted poor but they just got very little screen-time to make any sort of impact. Then, there's that unwanted scene where one is talking about his daughter to Vikram, and you can't help but feel they are gonna kill him very soon, again the point is what's the need of this scene or this particular story!
Vikram-Dimple romantic plot was touching, emotional but with flaws. Major issue was the cringy punjabi dialogues they speak which spoils the otherwise very good chemistry Sid-Kiara have here. There's a cute moment when Vikram is for first time noticed by Dimple and how he reacts after that feeling very delighted. And their final scene works lot more because as a viewer you know it will be their last face to face talk which they don't know then. However, I wish the manipulative 'Kabhi tumhe' track wasn't inserted there. I did love the use of 'Ranjha' track which is my personal favourite from the album beautifully showing the love between Vikram and Dimple. And that is a reason why 'Raatan Lambiyan' track was also misplaced and should had been edited out.
Won't say Sidharth Malhotra was perfectly casted, but he did a fairly good job at playing Vikram Batra, meanwhile Kiara Advani is adorable and shines when she gets the chances like the burst out scene at her father telling she would marry no one else if not for Vikram.
I didn't cry at any scene, but did feel moved by the post Vikram death scenes with the song 'Mann Bharryaa' making a great impact. I always feel that whole ceremony how its carried out ends up evoking strong emotions.
Despite all the mentioned problems, Shershaah is still a good movie, it just isn't what I was hoping for after all the hype. Maybe Vikram-Dimple angle or for that matter Vikram Batra bravery itself deserved a far better movie.
My Rating : 6/10
