This is a season of biopics or stories with their roots in reality for Bollywood after some Hollywood movies of the same genre. There is going to be a spate of such films which will either be released on OTT or in cinema houses as they start opening up as this wave of Covid subsides. Starting with Shershaah streaming on Amazon Prime.
The movie is based on the life and times of Captain Vikram Batra of the 13th JAK RIF and his role in the Kargil war. Movies based on the lives of real heros are always an inspiration for generations, this movie being no exception, this movie is solely dedicated to Captain Batra and his growing years, his love life and his dream of being a soldier.
During and after the Kargil war one did hear a lot about Captain Batra and his motto ‘Yeh dil maange more’ but as those still were early days of mass communication and smart phones had not proliferated thus we had limited knowledge of what was going on the war front. Only the news and some LOC coverage by Barkha Dutt were available and we never knew that it was a full blown war with Pakis occupying all the high mountain points which are usually vacated by Indian Army at the height of winter.
It was a mission impossible to regain control with the enemy sitting fully equipped and aiming down at you. However our bravehearts were able to take control of these points by going up an almost sheer 45-60° climb up the wrong side of the mountain at night fall and Lieutenant Batra who was the hero of the capture of point 5140 was immediately alleviated to the rank of the captain on the war sight itself and all but grabbed the chance to take out the last point i.e. Point 4875 which would end the war.
Killed in the line of duty by a sniper but not before our forces ended up capturing the point 4875 thus putting paid to the unholy war perpetrated by the Pakis by deceit. As fate would have it he was awarded the topmost seva medal – the Param Vir Chakra posthumously, it is the the same Param Vir Chakra episodes on T.V. in his childhood that had inspired him to be a soldier, for showing extraordinary courage in the Kargil war. With this movie we come to know the meaning and significance of ‘yeh dil maange more’ for Captain Batra and by extension for our Army as it was his signal to communicate mission success during the war, which was but a slogan for Pepsi and later a Shahid Kapoor movie of the same name for us at that time.
Shershaah was the codename for Captain Batra in the battlefield. The movie is full of anecdotes which proves that Captain Batra was a rare hero in real life and lived life king size. Acting department is well managed by Sidharth playing Captain Batra and Kiara Advani playing his paramour Dimple. It definitely is a feel good movie and your heart does go out for Captain Vikram Batra’s twin brother Vishal Batra. It only reinforces our belief that till such heros are protecting our borders we are safe. Jai Hind
– Review by PAWAN GUPTA
Cast of SHERSHAAH:
Sidharth Malhotra as Captain Vikram Batra and Vishal (Vikram’s Twin Brother)
Kiara Advani as Dimple (Vikram Batra’s fiancé)
Shiv Pandit as Captain Sanjeev Jamwal
Nikitin Dheer as Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia
Himmanshoo A. Malhotra as Major Rajeev Kapoor
Anil Charanjeett as Naib Subedar Bansi Lal Sharma
Shataf Figar as Lt. Colonel Yogesh Kumar Joshi
Sahil Vaid as Advocate Amit Sood
Raj Arjun as Subedar Raghunath Singh
Rakesh Dubey as Major Vijay Bhaskar
Abhiroy Singh as Major Subrata Mukherjee
Ankur Sharma as Major Vikas Vohra
Pranay Singh Pachauri as Rifleman Yash Paul Sharma
Credits of SHERSHAAH:
Production companies – Dharma Productions, Kaash Entertainment
Produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Shabbir Boxwala, Ajay Shah, Himanshu Gandhi
Directed by Vishnu Varadhan
Written by Sandeep Srivastava
Cinematography – Kamaljeet Negi
Edited by A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by Tanishk Bagchi, B Praak, Jaani, Jasleen Royal
Background score: John Stewart Eduri
Distributed by Amazon Prime Video
Running time – 135 minutes