Sam Bahadur had the perfect recipe and the ingredients for a grand stand box office collection. It had Vicky Kaushal, fresh off his experience of working in patriotic films such as Uri: A Surgical Strike and Sardar Udham. It is directed by Meghana Gulzar of Talvar and Raazi fame. Most importantly, it had the blueprint ready with the story of one of India’s most decorated soldiers, Sam Manekshaw – a massively revered figure with a maverick personality, commanding aura, and a sense of humour.
Unfortunately, Sam Bahadur is a case study in how you could get the best ingredients and recipe yet fail to deliver the perfect dish. What Sam Bahadur manages to do is save itself from a disaster, but the dish is served cold and lacks any seasoning.
For the patriotic folks, it’s a good watch as it plays on the emotional angle. However, it not just evades cinematic brilliance but leaves it far behind that you can’t even see it in the rear-view mirror.
How did the actors fare?
Not that Sam Manekshaw needed it, but Vicky Kaushal paid a perfect tribute to him. There is nobody like him and that’s what we felt in the movie – you didn’t see India’s first Field Marshal, but an actor scampering to mimic the hero’s mannerisms. Be it his walk, his charm, wit, or personality. Vicky is a brilliant actor, but this seemed like a role that was beyond the reach of his acting prowess.
The ‘Dangal’ girls, Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh are forgettable at best. Sanya essays the role of Sam Manekshaw’s wife, Silloo, who replicates what we’ve seen in the past of Bollywood’s depiction of storied soldiers’ wives. We have seen several actresses play Indira Gandhi on screen albeit for shorter scenes. Fatima Sana Sheikh as India’s first female PM ranks among the bottom as she fails to inspire.
The war scenes are decent but fall short of being epic. While the rest of the elements fall in place, it fails to do justice to the action scenes like we have seen in other war-centric movies, probably due to the lack of VFX and actual weaponry or props used.
The shooting was done well and it was a good attempt to bring together Sam Manekshaw’s valour and wit on screen. Unfortunately, it isn’t an edge-of-the-seat-engrossing-entertainer like we all were rooting for. However, if action and war drama are your cup of tea, check out the decent-but-nothing-great depiction of a storied hero, Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw.
The Pop Sports Rating: 2.5/5 stars
