Movie Review: Shamshera

Rating: 2 of 5

Star Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vaani, Sanjay Dutt, Saurabh Shukla

Director: Karan Malhotra

Shamshera (Ranbir Kapoor) is the leader of the Khameran tribe situated in as North, the North India goes, who sacrifices himself for his people’s independence. Following the age-old trope of ‘son fulfilling father’s unfulfilled dreams’ & 25 years later (set in the early 1800s), we see Balli who earns his leaving by stealing expensive things (and that’s what he teaches the kids of his tribe. Follow SpotLife ASIA for the latest news and updates.

Written by Neelesh Misra & Khila Bisht, it’s not Sanjay Dutt who’s the actual villain of this film. Misra, an extremely talented lyric-writer & his college friend Bisht fall into trap of ‘too much to say, too less to express’. There’s a clear lack in the sense of direction of where should this story go. If you’re saying, it’s a father-son film, at least take some time to build an emotional connection between the viewers with them? Or if you’re trying to narrate a story of a rebel against the mighty British government, at least make the motive clear so that it’s either too relatable or too heroic to connect.

Sanjay Dutt emerges as a better actor to fit in the world of Shamshera because he has done quite a few similar films in this area. Don’t expect a Kancha Cheena kind of performance & you won’t be disappointed by him at least. Vaani Kapoor as mentioned was not even half-important to the story and was as relevant as Katrina Kaif’s Suraiya in Thugs Of Hindostan. Saurabh Shukla is royally wasted and its major reason is deciding to give him rhyming dialogues without any rhyme or reason.

It’s really brave of Ranbir Kapoor to attempt a dacoit-drama as his first commercial masala potboiler, but I kind of see now why he has stayed away from such films till now. His ‘rigid’ appearance & that signature voice tone doesn’t help him in any way to build intrigue for his character. There are times when he delivers dialogue like they’re been recited by Jordan from Rockstar.

Karan had revealed that he took 7 months to create an ‘enthralling’ background score along with Mithoon & it translates extremely well on the bassy speakers of the cinema hall. But, only if he had put an equal amount of dedication at the narration & script level as well. The lack of good ideas actually compelled him to keep a ‘crows VS British Army’ fight sequence in the climax.