Yes, the wait is over and the Shershaah is roaring loud on your TV screens! This movie Shershaah is more about the life and times of Param Vir Chakra Late Captain Vikram Batra. I am sure most of us have watched it on its day of release. And yes, as promised, this Lekhanacha Udyog लेखनाचा उद्योग is about the movie and its viewer review.
Some of the snowy peaks in Drass, Batalik and Kargil Sectors of Jammu and Kashmir which are along the Line of Control, the LoC, have their own names like Tiger Hill, Rocky Nock and Tololing and some others are known just by their height from the mean sea level in metres, like Point 5140, Point 4875 et al. The movie starts with a bang showing the attack by the 13th Battalion of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, fondly known as 13 JAK RIF, of Bharatiya Army on the Point 4875 and suddenly we see some kids playing cricket in their colony........
We know Captain Vikram Batra was the identical twin brother of Vishal Batra, so are these kids, Krishnay Tuteja and Kavay Tuteja playing the childhood roles of Vikram and Vishal respectively. They have very small yet very important roles in the movie. They have acted so very well that it does not feel like this is probably their first ever movie. Vikram is shown to have a small fight some elder kids, during that game of cricket. The fighter spirit of Vikram Batra and awareness about own rights as a kid are perfectly depicted by Krishnay. The anger and worry of a father after that is shown nicely by actor Pavan Chopra. Actress Vijay Meenu has played the role of his loving mother. They have very small but important roles in the movie.
In the year 1988, there was this popular TV serial on Doordarshan called Param Vir Charka. which showcased the bravery of all the officers of Bhartiya Army who were awarded with the highest gallantry award, The Param Vir Chakra. That probably was the trigger for Vikram as a kid when he decided to join the Army and after joining the Army, he pulled the trigger of his gun many a times to eliminate the terrorists. Krishnay Tuteja has very well depicted is determination of Vikram Batra as a kid to join the Bharatiya Army.
Here is when we see Siddharth Malhotra as Lieutenant Vikram Batra reporting to his duty at Sopore in 13 JAK RIF and his journey as an army officer started from there. I feel, casting Siddharth Malhotra as Vikram Batra is like making sure that the movie will be a big hit! And the audience can very well feel in his performance, all the training and preps Siddharth had undergone. The way to carry the gun, the way to walk with all the gears is perfectly shown by Siddharth.
Based on an intel by informers, a company headed by Lieutenant Sanjeev Jamwal, played by Shiv Panditt went to hunt and seize a big bunch illegal weapons and ammunition being transported by terrorists. I really liked the scene wherein these Army men engage with the terrorists in a fire fight. Lately, movie makers have started showing some realistic damage to property during a gun fight. I am talking about holes being punched in vehicles and buildings by bullets and some bigger damages may be due to explosions. It was seen in the movie Uri: The Surgical Strike as well. Earlier what the audience used see was only the wind shields and window glasses of vehicles being shattered and if a bullet hits some wall, only some smoke used to be shown. I think BLANKS are used in all the gun fights in this movie as well. A blank bullet does not have the projectile that exits the gun's barrel to hit the target. They are used in movies to create the real like sound and flash of gun fire. Earlier electric sparks were made in the dummy guns to create the flash of gun fire. These sparks used to be seen at the notch in the gun from where an empty shell of a fired bullet gets rejected, instead of at the open end of the barrel! To be sure about this, I watched and re-watched all the gun fight sequences in the movie, many a times. At least I am convinced that the flashes after a gun fire are not digitally created. I would like to correct myself if I am wrong. All these are some welcome changes for me as a viewer. However, some experts say that hiding behind a car door can not save one from a bullet wound unless the car is bullet proof! I would like to see this change as well in movie action scenes.
After this action and arresting the terrorists, the team is shown to return to the base where a letter and a gift by his love of life Dimple Cheema is waiting for Vikram. That letter and Vikram's response to it takes the audience in a flashback to year 1995, in the Panjab University, Chandīgarh. One thing has to be noted here that Shershaah is the movie about life of Vikram Batra before and after being an Army officer, till his martyrdom, It is not another movie on the Kargil War. As such the real life love story of Vikram and Dimple has to be an integral part of this movie. A young talented Kiara Advani is a perfect choice to play Dimple Cheema. The way their romance blossoms in college is nicely shown in the movie. The cast and crew of this movie had met the Batra family and Cheema family, as well as all the Army personnel of 13 JAK RIF who are alive now and were fighting the war. This has been mentioned in many online interviews. The movie script must have evolved a lot after these meetings and such a fine product is seen on Amazon Prime Video. The incidences and events shown in this part of the movie are real as mentioned by the crew and cast of the movie. Some statements by Lieutenant Vikram Batra like या तो मै तिरंगा लहरा के आऊंगा या तो उसमे लिपट के आऊंगा, लेकिन आऊंगा जरूर!, or may be, "If you are a फौजी, you live by chance, love by choice and kill by profession!" make a deep impact when Siddharth delivers them.
As the story progresses further the audience watches many anti insurgency operations by 13 JAK RIF in J and K, again based on intel inputs. After successfully retaliating an ambush attack by the militants, Lieutenant Vikram Batra was introduced to the CO Major Yogesh Kumar Joshi later promoted to the post of Colonel, played by actor Shataf Figar. A son of school teacher joining Army had surprised Major Joshi and there develops a unique bond between Lieutenant Vikram Batra and Major Y K Joshi.
Then the movie takes turn to the Kargil War. Some important incidences at the army HQ of our not so friendly neighbour and their Army disguised as terrorists occupying the bunkers of Bhartiya Army, which triggered the war are quickly shown. Not much of time is wasted there because the limitation of the total duration of the movie. The snowy peaks of the Himalay are a visual treat here and I feel, this was a perfect time for an interval, had it been a theatrical release. I am sure that watching those snowy mountain tops on the screens of movie theatre would have been a greater experience. How much ever big a LED TV is, it can never match the cinema screen! However, as we all know, due to the current conditions of surroundings, this movie is released on Amazon Prime video, a popular OTT platform.
The second part of the love story of Lieutenant Vikram Batra and Dimple Cheema begins here and it is treat to watch Siddharth and Kiara in this part of the film as well. It is shown in the movie that Lieutenant Vikram met his family and friends before reporting back to the duty. I am sure it will touch the audiences when Vikram said to his friend Sunny, "बुलावा अंदरसे आया है!" The scene where Lieutenant Vikram meets Dimple on bus stand before leaving for the Army base, has come up very well. Both the talented actors have really lived the characters, I must say!
As the war had started in May 1999, the then Prime Minister of Bharat, Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee had promised to the Nation through a media address that that Bharatiya Army can very well use the power to maintain peace! I really liked it that the real footage of that address was used instead of some actor playing the role of the PM. The army base at Ghumri in Drass sector and it's surroundings are shown very well in the movie and would really have been a great pleasure to watch it on big screen. All the army men are shown preparing their arsenals for the war, cleaning their assault rifles, raising the muzzles of the mighty Howitzers to their respective targets. The director did not forget to show the media personnel moving around with their cameras and microphones. All this happening on the backdrop of snowy peaks of Himalay. And suddenly lot of shells come buzzing on the army base from the same snowy peaks. The explosions of the shells, the shrapnels and splinters spreading out after the explosion look real. The mayhem caused due to that shelling is very well picturised. What I liked here is that soldiers and officers are not shown firing their assault rifles towards the direction of the shelling because it would have been a pure wastage of ammunition firing at the invisible enemy, and the danger of the bullets accidentally hitting Bhartiya Soldiers. It makes sense taking cover in bunkers at such times and it was must that, that scene is captured by drone cameras. That was the incidence when Major Ajay Jasrotia played by Actor Nikitin Dheer, succumbed to the injuries caused by shrapnel piecing his back all the way up to the spine! Nikitin Dheer is a fine an actor as his father Pankaj Dheer, famous for playing Karn in the popular TV serial Mahabharat.
It was must that the Cheema family is shown watching the news of the war on TV. As we all know, it was a unique televised war, the real footage of news channels is used in this scene. 13 JAK RIF, or as Major Y K Joshi would call it दिव्य तेरा now came to action with the task of capturing Point 5140. Here we hear Lieutenant Vikram Batra say his victory signal will be 'ये दिल मांगे more!' and that's because he would not stop after capturing Point 5140!
Again it is a real visual treat to watch the teams led by Captain Sanjeev Jamwal aka Jimmy (code name Sangram) and Lieutenant Vikram Batra aka Vicky (code name Shershaah) climbing up to Point 5140 from different directions to neutralise the enemy. It was must to show the enemy using the illumination round and Bhartiya Army men staying steady till the illumination round subsides, and thus not coming in the sight of the enemy. Intercepting the radio communication between Sangram and Shershaah by the enemy and the enemy calling Shershaah in the same radio frequency to threaten him were the things that Vikram Batra himself had told the media after being promoted to Captain from Lieutenant. The action scene of capturing Point 5140 is the highlight of the movie. It is choreographed exactly like what we had seen 22 years ago on TV, specially the explosions of the artillery shells on the mountain top as seen from the fire base. The video interview of Captain Vikram Batra by TV media after winning Point 5140 is available on the internet and it is perfectly recreated in the movie. As such it was imperative that the same words are used as dialogues given to Siddharth during filming if the scene as the proud Batra Family watches it in TV. It would have been a challenge to the crew of the movie to procure those bulky CRT TVs in the era of flat panel LED TVs.
And then there is the last action scene of the movie where in Shershaah and his team climbs up to Point 4875. The coordination between the soldiers, communicating with had signals without talking a word is perfectly picturised as it would be seen by soldiers taking positions a few meters away from each other. Not using any close up shots for this is an added plus! Again, we see the real like flashes of gun fire, arguably due to use of blank bullets, as I said earlier in this blog post. A hand grenade explodes 4 seconds after removing its pin and it is shown in the movie that it explodes exactly after that much of time! And yes this is also is a plus one for the movie. The fire fight seems to be over with all the bunkers being destroyed but pin pointed shots from an enemy sniper gravely injured Captain Vikram Batra. Here the audience can feel the powerful script of the movie. Like I said earlier, the movie makers have had detailed discussions with the soldiers and officers of 13 JAK RIF. These discussions must have helped the movie makers to re-create the injuries on Siddharth Malhotra, the way Late Captain Vikram Batra might have faced them. No one else but Siddharth could have perfectly shown the pain caused by those injuries only by facial expressions! I am sure the audience was touched when they hear Captain Vikram Batra said their war cry, 'दुर्गा माता की जय' while the tricolour is raised on top of the last bunker destroyed by the Bhartiya Army, And Captain Vikram Batra succumbed to the bullet wounds...............
As expected we see the funeral procession of Late Captain Vikram Batra in his home town Palampur where Colonel Y K Joshi, Captain Sanjeev Jamwal, Subedar Raghunath anf many others from 13 JAK RIF are seen and their light hearted moments with the slain Captain flash to the audience. Here we again see teary eyed Siddharth Malhotra as Vishal Batra lighting up the pyre.
The movie that had started with Vishal Batra's IN Talks, the movie version of TED Talks ends at the same talks.....
Then we see the real life footages of the TV interview of Captain Vikram Batra after the capture of Point 5140 and his father receiving the Parma Vir Chakra awarded posthumously to Captain Vikram Batra along with some photographs of real and reel heros.
Captain Vikram Batra became a household name for the people of Bharat after that interview which inspired many to join the Bhartiya Army. This was because media could reach to that location. But there were many fronts in this war where media could not reach to interview the soldiers and officers engaged in the fire fight and win the war for the country.
There were many other battalions involved in the war which include but are not limited to 2 Rajputana Rifles, 1/11 Gurkha Rifles, 17 Jat Regiment, 18 Grenadiers, wherein many soldiers and officers laid their lives to protect the mother land. And yes, ये दिल मांगे more! More number of movies and web serials shall be produced telling to the common citizens of Bharat that it's their Army men who are posted along the borders of Bharat, thousands of kilometers away from their homes, because of whom the common people of Bharat can do their routine stuff. It is not required to wear a uniform pickup a gun and stand at the border to show the देशभक्ती! There are many other ways to do that. More about that some time later........
I will stop being verbose hoping that we will soon see the real life stories of the gallant of the Bhartiya Army, not just those of Kargil War but also from all the previous wars.
Day Two Hundred and Eighty Eighth
Page Hundred and Eighty Eighth
Chetan Arvind Apte
Pune.
Other Cast and Crew:
Director: Vishnuvardhan
Screenplay, Story and Dialogues: Sandeep Shrivastava
Producers: Sabbir Boxwala, Apoorva, Ajay Shah and Kran Johar
Music: Tanishk Bagchi, John Stewart Eduri
Cinematography: Kamaljeet Negi
Film Editor: Sreekar Praad
Vikam's sister Seema: Rukman Khanna
Vikram's sister Nutan: Ankita Goraya
Bijay J Anand: Dimple's Father
Kirron Arya: Dimple's Mother.
Vikram's friend Sunny: Sahil Vaid
Rifleman Yashpal: Pranay Pachauri
Rfileman Meher Singh: Atul Verma
Subedar Raghunath: Raj Arjun
Major Subrata Mukharjee: Abhiroy Singh
Lieutenant Naveen Nagappa: Jaykartik
..........and many others
