Film Sam Bahadur
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Neeraj Kabi, Aanjjan Srivastav, Edward Sonnenblick
Direction: Meghna Gulzar
When Meghna Gulzar makes a movie, a lot is expected. Her filmography has emulated in some measure the reputation of her father, Gulzar. In this context and more, the biopic on India’s enigmatic war hero Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw — S.H.F.J. Manekshaw — disappoints. It is not that the cast and the crew do not try. It is also not that the film is carelessly crafted or made with a preconceived political slant. Yet, something is amiss. It meanders and fails to convert the passion that one associates with the war hero.
Fortunately for the public at large, little is known about the life and career of Field Marshal Manekshaw. Credibility therefore is not the test for this Meghana Gulzar film. A few peeps give a political hue and a certain relevance to the life and making of India’s most celebrated soldier.
Not surprising, the celebration is of a persona who is known by his hour of success. History tomorrow as a cliché is and has always been the record of the victor, so be it with Field Marshal Manekshaw. Our biopics have a tendency to eulogise the subject, often at the cost of credibility, and surely for dramatic effect. Indians as a people are arguably unprepared to accept an Irving Stone kind of biographer who is willing to dip his brush in the hues of grey while dealing with heroes and their lives. In the need to be picture perfect in dealing with the subject of a biopic, we look for a picture perfect persona. This is counter-productive.
The initial parts of his life are stereotypically military school material. Breaking the law, sneaking in, suffering the penalty are shown but soon the system throws up the men from the boys. Saved by a colleague during World War II during his posting in Burma, his milestone moment is encapsulated to a fleshless detail. Awarded the rank of Major on his triumphs at war makes him out to be destiny’s child. Falling in love with Siloo (Sanya Malhotra) occupies the predictable space. Siloo continues to be a prop in the backdrop.
Meghna Gulzar profound statements which include Pakistani general Yahya Khan (a brilliant Mohammed Jishan) telling Field Marshal Manekshaw: wars give men stories, women nightmares. Later, there is the other profound statement on the Indo-Pak divide: They slit our hearts and ask us to choose a part. The Kashmir accession story is told with a certain historic perspective. The Bangladesh war by which Field Marshal Manekshaw became the larger-than-life hero of the country comes a tad too late. Paradoxically the film released on the day when the centurion Henry Kissinger (Jeffrey Adams Goldberg) breathed his last.
Cardboard characters are created to give Field Marshal Manekshaw's life its political context. We have Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (V.H Kavi), Sheikh Abdullah (Varun Narang), Lord Mountbatten (Edward Sonnenblick), Maharaja Hari Singh (Akash Deepsavir), ‘Iron Man’ Sardar Patel (Govind Namdev), Krishna Menon (Ellango Kumaravel), Lt. Gen. B.M Kaul (Ujjwal Chopra), Y.B. Chauhan (Anjan Srivastava), Siddharth Shankar Ray (Shorba Bhattacharya), Ayub Khan (Rohit Kokate) and as Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Fatima Sana Shaikh).
Unfortunately for the film, every actor hardly tries to add flesh or credibility to the character — historic as they are. A convergence of cardboard cutout characters makes for poor viewing and robs the film of its intensity and fluidity. Even Gulzar’s lyrics with Eshan Shankar Roy doing ‘Badthe Chalo’ are hardly spirited. Both the principal actresses, Sanya Malhotra and Fatimah Sana Shaikh, particularly the latter, fail to inject any fizz.
In the midst of this inane representation of history as a backdrop, it is the performance of Vicky Kaushal as Sam Bahadur that stands out. He has done the genre before and gets into the skin of the character with a great amount of sincerity. He in fact holds the film together. He gives the film what Meghana Gulzar fails to.
Somewhere into the film, Sam Bahadur says “Kabiliyat Aur Niyyat Me Faraq Hai (There is a difference between capability and intent).” Here the intent is good. The apocryphal quote of Sam Bahadur, “it is okay,” sums up the film. Very little Bahaduri either in the content or the presentation mars the biopic. It does no good to Meghna Gulzar, it reiterates the space currently occupied by Vicky Kaushal.
