Review of movie Shershaah directed by Vishnuvardhan

Vishal and Vikram are twin brothers, with Vikram developing great interest and passion towards Army service. The movie starts off with a TED-talk by Vishal where he recounts the life story of his twin brother, Captain Vikram Batra and the whole story, in fact, unfolds as a flashback. Siddharth Malhotra, playing the role of Vikram (and Vishal, of course), does great justice to the role, displaying varied emotions ranging from bravery, determination, romance, caring to fearlessness. While he dreams of getting into Army and strives hard to get himself selected, he falls for Dimple, played by Kiara Adani.

The couple’s on-screen chemistry is so beautiful that the director doesn’t overplay the emotions even in the heart-breaking scenes such as the one where Vikram leaves to join his squad after a brief stay in his hometown. Kiara’s scope as such is limited except for playing the love interest of Siddharth. She stands firm in her decision to get married to Vikram, opposing her dad’s views. There is an adorable scene where Kiara takes Siddharth to a gurudwara and Siddharth, without her knowing, holds her duppata as they both circumambulate, symbolically fulfilling the marriage ritual, demonstrating his commitment to the relationship. The background music and songs are appropriate and captures the mood well. My favourite pick is ‘Raataan Lambiyan’ song which was quite a delightful rendition.

The war scenes are also captured very well, with great attention to detail. The caring and humanitarian nature of Vikram is self-evident from his conversations with his fellow army men. I was moved by the scene where Vikram broods over the death of one of his troop men, who was eagerly anticipating his vacation ahead to meet his just-born daughter. The dialogues are also powerful and driven by patriotism, which in few places gave me goosebumps like the one where Vikram tell his friend back in town that he will sure return after the war either carrying the tricolor flag or wrapped in it. 

How Vikram instills patriotism in the team mates whom he leads during the war and how instrumental he is in winning the Kargil War, sacrificing his own life enthralls the viewer and reminds us of the inexplicable hardships our army men undergo in order to protect the sovereignty of the Country. Another aspect that I really liked about the movie was it had a matter-of-fact approach in bringing the facts right. Vishnuvardhan has done his research well and doesn’t add too much of masala, which many biographical movies do, thereby encapsulated the remarkable biography of Captain Vikram Batra in about 120 minutes. The credits section in the end also pays tribute to all the key and brave souls who fought during the war.

Being a near flawless movie, I would strongly recommend every Indian citizen to watch this with one’s family. It will help you understand the harsh reality of our current situation where majority of us are worshipping and following reel heroes (you know who I mean) as against such inspiring real heroes. At least after watching this movie, we should feel grateful for our safe existence as we live close to our near and dear ones as against the army men and start reading the lives of such daredevil souls, for it will help improve our self-confidence and encourage our future generation to consider Army service as a fulfilling career option.