A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
By Murtaza Ali Khan
At
the end of Shershaah, the recent biopic on the life of the legendary Kargil War
hero Captain Vikram Batra, Vishal Batra, Captain Batra’s twin brother, avers, “When
I think of Captain Batra’s life of 25 years, I realize that there is no greater
honor than being a soldier. There is no great pride than wearing a soldier’s
uniform. And there is no religion greater than one’s country.” Rest assured, the
scene will give you goosebumps. I wish I could say the same about the whole
film which can best be described as a mixed-bag affair. The film’s biggest
problem is the casting of Sidharth Malhotra in a double role as Captain Vikram
Batra and Vishal Batra. While Vishal is the narrator of Captain Batra’s story,
one never really gets to see the twin brothers together in the film except as
young kids early in the film (with Krishnay Tuteja and Kavay Tuteja playing the
parts of Captain Batra and Vishal Vatra, respectively). More so, Sidharta
Malhotra as an actor has many limitations. He is great if he just has to look
cool and suave. But every time a character demands him to step out of his
comfort zone he gets totally exposed.
Another major issue with
Shershaah is that it wants to obsessively follow Captain Batra all the time
like some character driven non-fiction film. As a result it fails to do justice
to the other characters as well as the world around Captain Batra. In other
words, Sidharth Malthotra is the Rajinikanth of Shershaah’s world. If only he
were half as good as Rajinikanth in a quintessential Rajinnikanth film. Now, it’s not that Sidharth doesn’t try. In
fact, he gets 100/100 for trying. But in the world of professional acting,
trying is just not good enough. You either have it or you don’t. And Sidharth
definitely has it in him to impeccably play Sidharth Malhotra every time. Now,
anyone who has seen old videos of Captain Batra would agree that he was really
one of a kind. And so it is wishful thinking to expect someone like Sidharth
Malhotra with limited acting skills to plausibly play a braveheart like Captain
Batra. In fact, the director and the casting department have done a great
disservice to the iconic stature of Captain Batra by casting Malhotra in the
part.
To quote the late American
film critic Roger Ebert, as critics, we are looking for “moods, tones, fears,
imaginings, whims, speculations, nightmares” in the films that we watch. He
adds, “As a general principle, I believe films are the wrong medium for fact.
Fact belongs in print. Films are about emotions.” Therefore, even when a filmmaker
is making a biopic, he/she cannot afford to get too obsessed with facts and
figures. Ebert further adds, “My notion is that ‘JFK’ is no more, or less,
factual than (Oliver) Stone's ‘Nixon’ or ‘Gandhi’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’,
‘Gladiator,’ ‘Amistad,’ ‘Out of Africa,’ ‘My Dog Skip’ or any other movie based
on ‘real life’. All we can reasonably ask is that it be skillfully made and
seem to approach some kind of emotional truth”. Ebert’s astute observations
perfectly apply to Shershaah. Here is a film about a beloved and revered martyr
like Captain Batra and yet one doesn’t really feel the goosebumps for the most
part. And therein lies the rub. One wants to clench one’s fists every time
Captain Batra goes on a nigh impossible mission. One wants to feel the
adrenaline. Every time he finds himself in the tight spot while facing the
enemy one wants to pray for his safety. And when he triumphs one wants to make
the same battle cry. Alas, such moments are few and far in the film!
Shershaah’s greatest strength is Kamaljeet Negi’s splendid work in the cinematography department. Negi’s camerawork helps bring the Kargil War to life. Also, the film’s editing and sound design are its strong areas. Even as Malhotra struggles throughout the film to get a hold over his challenging character, actors around him succeed in leaving their mark. While Raj Arjun is mesmerizing to watch during his special cameo appearance, Sahil Vaid is solid as ever as Captain Batra’s elder brother. Also, Mir Sarwar looks menacing during his short but powerful portrayal of the head of a Kashmiri militant outfit backed by Pakistan. Shiv Pandit also impresses in the limited screen time that he gets. As for Kiara Advani, she somewhere seems to be playing the extension of her character from Kabir Singh. At this stage in her career she needs to be very careful of getting typecast and so she cannot afford to play the shy, homely girl with little or no agency over and over again. Shershaah isn’t a bad film but it hardly has anything new to offer. For some reason, Indian filmmakers just can’t seem to go beyond the scope of ‘Border’ or ‘Lakshya’. At this rate we might have to wait until the next century for our own ‘Saving Private Ryan’ or ‘The Thin Red Line’ to arrive on the film scene.
A version of this review was first published in The Daily Guardian.
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