Shershah - Movie Review

“Yeh Dil Maange more” was a popular tagline of a Cola-drink brand in the 90s. And the same was also used by Capt. Vikram Batra of our Indian Army who fought from the front during the Kargil War which Pakistan waged against India and lost miserably. Vikram and many other Indian soldiers martyred their lives to ensure India captured P 4875, one of the top peaks in the Himalayas which could give access to the enemies to enter and capture an important route and region of Jammu & Kashmir. The move, which was instigated by none other than the former Pakistan President and Army Chief Pervez Musharaff was dealt with a severe blow by the then Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Defence Minister Mr. George Fernandes. India lost over 500 soldiers but made a statement to our loving neighbour that we shall not be shied away by such war threats and mongering. It is to our record that Bharath – our country, has never waged a war against any kingdom or country in the past 2,000 years of recorded history. But when someone tries to test our sovereignty, we shall not sit back and shall certainly retaliate. 

Shershah is all about Capt. Vikram Batra and his 13 JAK Rifles which fought this war. Siddharth Malhotra as Capt. Batra has done extreme justice to the role and has almost lived within the character, be it while in his home town of Palampur or at the border. Kiara Advani as Dimple Cheema has performed quite well to and so are all the characters who have played their respective ones. The film also shows a character who resembles and is named Musharaff while the iconic speech of Shri. Vajpayee is also featured. Produced by Dharma Productions owned by Karan Johar exclusively for an OTT release on Amazon Prime Video, the film is directed by Southern sensation Vishnuvardhan who has directed marquee films such as Ajith’s Billa and Arrambam among many others. 

Vikram grows up in a small town along with his identical twin brother Vishal and is deeply impressed by the 90s TV show “Paramvir Chakra” and wishes to join the Army. He falls in love with a girl from the Sikh community but her family refuses since Vikram is from a Hindu community. The two, however avow to marry each other. Vikram chooses to become a Merchant Navy Officer to impress her parents, but she prefers that he serve the country. Vikram is initially posted in the J&K region where he impresses his seniors with a few plum captures of terrorists, thanks to his street-smart skills. 

As retaliation of the killings of terrorists in J&K, Pakistan sent their men to sneak in to the top peaks of the Indian border and enter into our own territory. Over months, the Pakistan army took time to reach and build their base there. In a sudden and unprecedented move, the Pakistanis attacked a huge base which was stationed at Drass (in J&K) which resulted in injury and death of hundreds of our soldiers. Shri. Vajpayee called it enough to restrain and decided to send our troops to retaliate. The then Col. VP Joshi appoints Vikram Batra as Captain to lead the crew to eventually lead and capture the Kargil summit to return it to India.  

The men in uniform take multiple routes and scale some of the toughest ice-clad peaks of the Himalayas, that too with a small regiment size and very limited ammunition but crack the game by reaching the top to hoist the Indian National Flag there to recapture our Indian territory and to make the country a safer place. In the melee, we lost many brave men including Cap. Batra and most of them have been conferred with some of the country’s highest honours. Late Capt. Vikram Batra was posthumously awarded the “Param Vir Chakra” by the then President of India, Shri. KR Narayanan. The film ends with Vikram closes his eyes even as he sees the Men hoist the Indian National Flag at the summit. Dimple remains unmarried to date and his twin brother is seen giving a TED-like talk taking the audience through a life which was lived to its fullest. 

A fitting tribute to celebrate India’s 75^th Independence Day.