Shershaah: High-spirited biopic with enough heroics

Shershaah

Hindi (Amazon Prime)

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Kiara Advani, Sahid Vaid

Director: Vishnu Varadhan

Rating: 3

A war is more than a war cry. ‘Shershaah’ is sound in the second department but trips a little on its way to planting the tricolour on the Kargil peak.

Nevertheless, the movie has enough heroics to evoke the customary goosebumps whenever India triumphs. There is a sprinkling of masala on the mountains but no chest-thumping patriotism to mar the exploits of Captain Vikram Batra.

A lot of material is available online on the real-life hero, who famously borrowed the line ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’ to describe his appetite for more hurrahs on the icy heights. Posthumously awarded Param Vir Chakra — the country’s highest gallantry honour — Batra lives on for his valour during his posting in the 13th Battalion Jammu & Kashmir Rifles, and subsequently in the Kargil war of 1999.

Sidharth Malhotra (playing both Batra and his twin brother Vishal) makes an earnest attempt. Somehow, his braveheart is eclipsed by the other armymen around him, whose iron will comes through effortlessly. This is not to take away credit, but blame his looks, Malhotra is more convincing as the Palampur boy romancing a sardarni (a charming Kiara Advani as Dimple Cheema).

The love story is absolute tosh (blood as sindoor, anyone?) and only serves to dilute the action on the battlefield. However, the masterful combat scenes and cinematography make up for the flaws on other terrains.

For a change, the movie doesn’t depict the Pakistani side as a bunch of venom-spewing, kohl-lined clowns. Even a Geneva Treaty-violating Pervez Musharraf sounds authentic (“Our guns should fire as soon as the snow melts”). That said, the army-civilian conflict in Kashmir deserved more sophistication. After all, not all local youth need to be treated with suspicion.

Most war movies carry an amount of charm even if they don’t cast a spell. ‘Shershaah’ may not be in the league of ‘Lakshya’ or ‘Uri’, but it sure lifts the spirits with a flag that flies high.