Sam Bahadur Movie Review: Easy and Unforgettable Vignette Reel by Vicky | Bollywood

Bollywood November 30, 2023

Sam Bahadur has a lot going for it. For director Meghna Gulzar, the film comes on the back of two stellar successes, “Talvaa” (2015) and “Raazi” (2018). The lead star is Vicky Kaushal, who is used to playing men tasked with fighting the enemies of the state and has also played with fictional characters in Uri: Surgical Strike (2019) and Sardar Udham (2021). He plays both real-life characters. Finally, it’s about the life of one of this country’s most famous soldiers, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. Marshal Sam Manekshaw is an almost mythical colossus who survived being shot nine times by Japanese soldiers in World War II. Also read: Sam Bahadur’s first reaction, Abhishek Bachchan praises Vicky Kaushal

Samu Bahadur Movie Review: Vicky Kaushal as Samu Manekshaw in stills.

You squirm and fidget in your seat for a long time, waiting for the decisive moment of cinematic brilliance. When screenwriter Bhavani Iyer and director Meghna Gulzar try to make you laugh, you laugh hard. But in the end, I don’t quite get Sam Bahadur’s point. When I left the theater, I felt like I had received a new retelling of the annual online article you read on Manek Show. Manekshaw was famous for serving humble pies to even the Prime Minister of the day and was the proud owner of a bushy handlebar mustache and dispenser. Bangles and Battlezone Sayings.

Biographical films are a loose genre because most of them follow an episodic framework and are limited by notions of verisimilitude and length. What makes this genre work so memorable is where and how the film’s central conflict is placed. “Oppenheimer,” released earlier this year, depicted the protagonist’s security clearance being revoked and the movie’s development surrounding it. Sam Bahadur has chosen to tell the story of this famous protagonist without questioning the explosions and branches of the story and the recent appropriation of Manekshaw as the ultimate Sigma male. He is single-minded in reaping the privilege of bringing his legend to life on screen and will ultimately deliver a hagiography. In fact, Manekshaw’s characterization of Pakistani Yahya Khan (Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub) is more nuanced (though not without gruesome aging makeup and prosthetics).

If there’s one thing that makes you fall in love with this movie, it has to be Vicky Kaushal. After an almost overwhelming year in terms of characters written for him in ‘Govinda Naam Mera’, ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bakke’ and ‘The Great Indian Family’, Sam – Bahadur gave Kaushal the truly magical work he showed in Sardar Udham, Raj (2018). and Masaan (2015). In the hands of a bad performer, Manekshaw’s gait, affected vocalizations, and widely known effortless charm and wit may seem like a caricature, but always the confident Kaushal. has a firm grasp on this character. His off-screen candor and self-acceptance beautifully capture the protagonist’s optimism and unwavering faith in his abilities.

Sanya Malhotra, as Sam’s charming wife Shiru Bode, provides emotional sustenance for the Manekshaw family, complementing his maverick energy with the ease she recently displayed in Jawan and Qatar. It is frequently hinted in the film that Manekshaw’s victory comes at the expense of Shiruru and her daughters. However, Fatima Sana Sheikh’s portrayal of Indira Gandhi was largely shaky, and her casting choices were largely to blame for that.

The film’s music is loud, distracting, and lacks a melody (the war hymn Badte Chalo is incredibly bland and inelegant), but Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s obvious musical talent and the trio This is surprising considering Gulzar’s last great collaboration with Raj. In addition to a half-hearted background score, Sam Bahadur makes effective use of archival footage to sustain the story and bring documentary weight to proceedings, but even that doesn’t add to the film’s passive linearity. It contributes to the sex and staccato time leap.

Sam Bahadur seems to gently and charmingly engage with the individual parts of Manekshaw’s life that form the plot of the film. They’re so well shot, designed, and acted (backed up by cinematographer Jay Patel’s work on the Burmese bombing and battle scenes) that it might be worth seeing this larger-than-life vignette in theaters. But the elements that tie them together, like the banter between Manekshaw and the radio-carrying cook, or the cute meeting between the leading man and his woman in a social setting, or the scene where he makes a very popular declaration about Gurkhas and fear feels disjointed. And due to the film’s largely optimistic tone, it definitely needs to be cut some slack.

cast: Vicky Kaushal, Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Neeraj Kabi

direction: Meghna Gulzar