Sam Bahadur

Sam Bahadur is altogether chronological, taking the viewer across the neatly labelled years of Manekshaw's service, but what's most interesting is pushed into the chronology rather than made central. The film doesn't quite deserve the critical push that Gulzar's previous work did, despite the compelling subject matter.

Manekshaw is presented throughout as a hero, consistently correct, noble, witty and forgiving. Whether he's standing up to politicians, boxing a rival or charming his future wife, the guy can do no wrong, and the charming Vicky Kaushal is well-cast in the role. Where this approach lands the film in trouble is in the overall shape of the drama – the incidents and set-pieces are neatly done, but the structure is somewhat episodic.

SAM BAHADUR is a well-intentioned biopic and showcases Vicky Kaushal like never before. But it suffers due to the docudrama treatment. The director should have added some sort of cinematic high, without compromising on other aspects.

Sam Bahadur is a brave attempt, but it aimlessly meanders in most parts, trying to give us an insight into the life of one of the most revered and celebrated army officers. The biggest issue with the film is how disjointed it feels, with jump cuts from one moment to another that are jarring. Vicky Kaushal's performance is sincere but sketchy, feeling bogged down by the effort to ape Sam Bahadur.

Meghna Gulzar takes the routine route to depict the story of a man who was anything but routine, and that's where the major loophole is. The execution falls into the trap of being this routine army inspiration story, checking every stereotype you could name for such films. Vicky had everything going for being the best version of Manekshaw the movies could ever see; the writing lets him down.

Sam Bahadur is a mechanical summary of his life, ticking off one chapter after another without bothering to pause or ponder over their significance and influences. It plays out like an Amar Chitra Katha comic -- meticulously researched but disappointingly impersonal in its approach, lacking the spontaneity and intimacy that characterizes Meghna Gulzar's better work.

At the end of it all, the point of Sam Bahadur eludes you completely. The film chooses to tell the story of its celebrated protagonist without much narrative pyrotechnics, divergence or problematising Manekshaw's recent appropriation as the ultimate sigma male, ending up delivering a hagiography. Sam Bahadur can be seen as sweet and engaging in individual segments, but the strands that tie them together feel disjointed and in desperate need to be cut some slack.

While Vicky flawlessly adapts an agile body language and revels in a delightful characterisation, the film lets down its protagonist by flatlining a narrative that was pregnant with possibilities of hero elevation. The film takes a rather rushed journey from the 1930s-70s that fails to allow the audience to savour what the biographical war drama has to offer.

Gulzar's screenplay has a little bit of everything and nothing about any one thing in particular. However, Kaushal's charm offensive isn't enough to keep Sam Bahadur on track. The greatest hits approach leans on recorded history rather than compelling fiction for dramatic momentum.

Known for telling complex tales like Talvar (2015) and Raazi (2019), this time director Meghna Gulzar has mounted a relatively straightforward and adulatory biopic of a military strategist who never seemed to be in two minds and had the guts to speak truth to power. Sam Bahadur has enough firepower to keep us invested.