Shershaah Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Kiara Advani
Director:Vishnu Varadhan
I am the proud sister of a soldier who served in the same battle in Dras, and I was looking forward to seeing Captain Vikram Batra's biography about how he devoted his life to bring the Kargil War - one of the most terrible conflicts of our time - to an end, Capt Vikram Batra sister said.
During the Kargil War, in June-July 1999, late Captain Vikram Batra of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles regiment led the attack to seize Pt 5140 and later Pt 4875, both strategically vital positions. Captain Batra volunteered to command the crew on these operations, according to many accounts.
When I heard someone remark in the movie Shershaah, "Har fauji ka sapna hota hai ki woh war join kar sake (It's every soldier's desire to fight a war)," my heart sunk. I said, "No way! Our troops cannot be depicted warmongers. They are well aware that they have taken up a gun to protect and defend themselves. War brings no delight to any soldier. Nobody should do it."
The weak point this film makes is that it makes everyone else appear less heroic, maybe because it wants to focus on Captain Vikram Batra. A collective noun is an army. Victory is won because everyone does their bit and everyone follows the line of command (the officers swear to do so "to the danger of their lives" when they graduate from the Indian Military Academy).
For example, in the film Lakshya, some of the action is based on Captain Vikram Batra's scaling of points 5140 and 4875.
Everyone has a fantastic part to play, making Hrithik's final planting of the Indian flag all the more remarkable. He's in excellent company.
Shershaah's extremely Hollywood war movie inspired "Delta company" pales in comparison to the Pakistani mocking the Indian soldiers: "Hame Madhuri Dixit de do and we will leave."
It's inspiring to watch Lakshya's journey from aimless boy to army officer by demonstrating his dedication to training. Why didn't they invest in a little montage to show Vikram Batra training to become an officer? We knew he aspired to be an officer in the army from the beginning of Shershaah, so why didn't they invest in a small montage to show Vikram Batra training to become an officer?
Even when Sidharth Malhotra is shown romancing Dimple as a college student, he appears to be a misfit. When romancing the girl, why does he have to unleash his inner Shah Rukh Khan?
Talking about Kiara Advani, she's rather attractive and has a pleasant screen presence, but she's limited to speaking in a poor Punjabi accent. It would have been fine if both the hero and heroine speak Hindi. The Punjabi, Hindi, and English khichadi grated the ears.
Shershaah's end credits are virtually wonderful, because the casting appears to be near-perfect. Captain Vikram Batra's real-life footage was so incredible that you wish they had more of it and made a documentary instead of this worthless biopic that does the real-life Kargil war hero no justice at all.
Sidharth Malhotra's acting talents are not those of a Jenga tile, despite his good looks. It's possible that it's not his fault. He's more likely to say "Ishq wala love" than "Teri maa ki...", something the filmmakers should be aware of.