It’s been 22 years since the Kargil war. Shershaah is based on the life of Captain Vikram Batra who bravely fought for the nation and was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously. Now without this context if we were told the story of a young man who grew up wanting to join the Army, and is so fearless that he charges towards the enemies without a second’s thought for his own safety, a guy so dramatic that when his girlfriend feels a little insecure he cuts his finger with a blade and fills her maang with his own blood, we’d be tempted to find it all so 'filmy ' and unreal. But that’s not be coz this is the life our swashbuckling real life lead hero.

Sidharth Malhotra who feels more at home in the “peace time” scenes with Kiara Advani does a fairly decent job too as a man in uniform given the limitations of the script.

Simplistic storytelling aside there is a certain honesty about Shershaah that touches us. It could have been so much more evocative and compelling but still definitely watchable.

VO: RJ Stutee Ghosh