Sam Bahadur Review: Watch this movie to salute our greatest general field marshal Sam Manekshaw
Sam Bahadur Movie Rating: 3.5 Stars
Finally watched Sam Bahadur movie in Cinemas. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Neeraj Kabi, Edward Sonnenblick and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Director: Meghna Gulzar
Release Date: 1st December 2023 in Cinemas
Story: Movie is a biopic of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw traces his journey from birth to retirement. Born to a military father, Sam’s (Vicky Kaushal) sole aim is to protect his country and countrymen. Being a charmer, his fellow mates are envious. While he wooed Silloo (Sanya Malhotra), Sam also conquered challenges at the Indian Military Academy to become one of the best.
During World War II, he is posted in Burma where he fights the Japanese troops bravely. He gets shot 7 times and yet survives. After the partition, he gets an offer to join the Pakistani Army by his friend Yahya Khan (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) but he insists on being a part of the Indian Army.
A few years later, the Indo-China dispute erupts, and this is when he comes across the future Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi (Fatima Sana Shaikh). An interesting relationship between Sam and Indira has been established. What happen next is all about this movie.
Positives
1. Performances
2. Background Music
3. Story
4. Direction
5. Dialogues
Negatives
1. Length
2. 2nd half
3. Climax
4. Docu-drama feel
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie in cinema on release date as loved the trailer and based on real story of field marshal Sam Manekshaw.
It is a tribute to India’s first Field Marshal and a legendary Army General, Sam HFJ Manekshaw, MC. From Burma campaign during World War II, Sino-Indian War, to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 that created Bangladesh, his illustrious career shaped India’s borders.
Sam Bahadur explores the journey of Manekshaw who’s a real-life superhero wearing the uniform. Biopics can be tricky, but Meghna handles Sam Manekshaw’s story efficiently. Without making it a boring history chapter, she uses the involvement of people around Sam to build his story and world. The story progresses at a fast pace and rarely slows down. Touching upon important events in his life, Sam Bahadur cinematically depicts his bravery and intelligence. Vicky Kaushal delivers one of his career-defining performance. To give credit where it’s due, she makes a sincere attempt to tell the story of Sam Manekshaw. She doesn’t attempt to add unnecessary drama, action or dialoguebaazi for the heck of it. Everything in the film is there for a reason and it gives one a feeling that the director is serious about doing justice to his life story. Sam’s sense of humour was famous, and this aspect is well taken care of. The manner in which Sam manages to fly the plane from Srinagar despite no lights is the best scene of the film.
On the flipside, the film lacks density at certain points. The relationship between Sam-Silloo-Indira could have made for interesting and fresh takes to the film. His love story and even conflicts with Pakistan get lesser space. This hampers the conviction ability of the film. The first half ably acts as a building block whereas the second half shoots high like a missile. The conclusion, though, feels rushed. A film of this kind should have numerous high points which SAM BAHADUR sadly lacks. The the director should have added some sort of cinematic high, without compromising on other aspects. His life events have been dramatic and so much could have been done. Sadly, Meghna Gulzar, in the second half, chooses to simply document his life episodes without adding any cinematic value. This is pretty evident in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, which serves as the climax. It fails to give goosebumps as the audience will not realize the achievements of Sam in this battle, thanks to the execution.
Overall, movie is an earnest and fitting tribute to Sam Manekshaw. It is a well-intentioned biopic and showcases Vicky Kaushal like never before. But it suffers due to the docudrama treatment. watch the film for its documentation of the life of one of our great generals. My view on this movie Recommended with family.
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