Field Marshall: My quick take on movie “Sam Bahadur” (theatrical release)
My spontaneous reaction after watching this biographical movie on Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw was “for the most decorated officer who had more bullets in the body than the medals he had adorned, for a wily strategist whose contribution in all the wars where Indian Army fought (from accession of Kashmir to birth of Bangladesh) was unparalleled, he deserved a 8-10 episode long web series instead of a 150 min long feature film.
I also felt that the makers missed a chance to recreate our own “Patton” and could tell Uncle Sam that we too had our Sam (Bahadur) who was as inspiring, as a flamboyant military commander as George S Patton. It was the writing and screenplay which has let down what could have become a classic movie. Director chose to present the plot in its chronological sequence right from birth of this hazel-eyed Cyrus to the birth of Bangladesh, the span was huge hence it seemed to be presented in a very cramped and sketchy manner within the limits of a feature film.
I wish writers had included those aspects of Sam’s saga which are not easily available on YouTube.
Looks like Vickey Kaushal is specializing in “Biographical” roles like the Marathi actor Subodh Bhave, after Uri and Udham Singh now he dons stars and stripes of Field Marshall. He did mimic the body language ,gait and Mannerisms of Sam perfectly but the dialogue delivery had more of Dev Ananadish's twang than the Victorian eloquence of Sam.
However, In my view Vickey can think of laying hands on a National Award this year (which eluded him in Udham Singh) for his performance.
In real life, Sam had a rare distinction of serving the country under various prime ministers, right from Nehru to Indira Gandhi. These prime ministers have steered India to a position where it is now. However the portrayals of these prime ministers in the movie is shown as indecisive Jawaharlal and not so ‘steely’ and ‘bold’ what Indira Gandhi is known for. Fatima Sana Sheikh who plays Indira had great scope for improvement however her Dabang partner Sania Malhotra who plays Mrs Sam was very impressive. Zeeshan Ayub as Yahya khan was good.
Shankar Ehasan Loy’s music is good, the ‘badhate chalo’ track pumps in extra Josh to the flow. While the background score of Ketan Sodha is mostly loud. Like Patton, here too makers mix the original war footage with movie which lends authenticity, the production design is of top notch quality, and Gulzars lyrics are magical as usual.
Overall it's a good movie which missed a chance of becoming a great one.
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