I did tear up a couple of times, but only for Sarbjit. Randeep Hooda is mostly shown inside his dark, fetid cell, his hair filthy, his hands gnarled. He nails the look and the accent, never letting either overpower him, and is the only reason to sit through this sagging saga.

Sarbjit is an irresponsibly sloppy film, a film so focused on artless emotional manipulation and trying to make the audience weep, that it trivialises an important true-life story.

It’s a tough movie to get right, and Oomung should be lauded for choosing the story and for picking a star to get the story out to wider audience (like he did with Mary Kom). But, Oomung fails to deliver a moving, poignant film and instead leaves us with a load of melodrama.

With the star not shining all that bright and the actors in the mix not allowed to play the game their way, Sarbjit is a well-meaning outing that fails to do justice to its subject.

Watch it only if you are an Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan fan no matter what.

If you want to know about Sarabjit, google it for free. You’ll know more than what the film has to offer.

The blame lies largely in the script which doesn’t leave much for its actors to do other than excessively cry or scream or otherwise sit sulking. 

Sarbjit fails to rise above its commercial nature to actually hit you in the gut with its real story.

Sarbjit is a brave attempt, but the treatment is so melodramatic and so shrill, you come away with a heavy aching head, instead of a heavy heart at the tragedy of the peoples from both sides of the border.

Sarbjit should have been the film that could have brought out issues of human rights being oppressed in favour of political games, but what it turns out to be is a nearly three hours of inconsistent and flawed storytelling. Watch the film purely for the performances, especially Randeep’s and the core plot!

Rai Bachchan is making a plea to all to be humane, however some of her voice is drowned as the makers are desperate to make it an edible film for the Bollywood movie fans who like a bit of dance and drama.

There is no denying that Randeep & Richa are very skillful actors and are capable of delivering a marvellous performance and, as always, the duo shine in this film too.

The story is sad. The treatment is bad. It is long and loopy and manipulative but it hurts more because it is based on a true story.

You walk into the theatres film expecting a grim, sombre movie but Omung instead mets out a half-baked tale that woos you in bits but is inherently too dull to move you. The only reason you remain invested in this flimsy screenplay is because of Randeep Hooda. He is fantastic in every frame.