Shershaah

About the film

Shershaah (transl. Lion-king) is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language biographical war drama film based on the life of Vikram Batra, martyred in action in the Kargil War, directed by Vishnuvardhan in his Hindi film debut and written by Sandeep Shrivastava. The film was produced by Dharma Productions and Kaash Entertainment, with Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Shabbir Boxwala, Ajay Shah and Himanshu Gandhi serving as producers. Sidharth Malhotra stars in a dual role as Vikram Batra and his twin brother Vishal, with Kiara Advani as his girlfriend Dimple Cheema.

Announced in May 2019, principal photography began in the same month and concluded in January 2020. Initially slated to be released on 3 July 2020, the film was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film then premiered on 12 August 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.

Plot

Vishal Batra delivers a Ted Talk on his brother Vikram narrating the story of his life.

The young Vikram is playing cricket when he gets into a fight with elder teenage kids over a ball, revealing the fearless nature he later became known for. Vikram, watching the TV series Param Vir Chakra used to talk about his wish to join the Indian Army. His desire to join the army increases intensely as he grows up.

In his college days, Vikram, studying English as his major subject, wanted to join the Indian Navy or the Indian Army. He was selected for the Merchant Navy which made his girlfriend Dimple happy yet confused about his career. Vikram and Dimple wanted to get married, however, Dimple's father refuses to accept Vikram because they belong to different castes. Meanwhile, Vikram realised that he was not meant for the Merchant Navy but for the Army. He cracks CDS (Combined Defence Services) after completing his master's degree and joins the Indian Army. Vikram was commissioned as a Lieutenant of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles and posted in Sopore of Jammu and Kashmir. He develops cordial relations with both his men and locals and takes part in counter-insurgency operations. On one such operation, he defies his CO Lt. Sanjeev "Jimmy" Jamwal but neutralises the perpetrators and saves Jimmy's life. Jimmy reprimands his approach but gets close to him later.

Production

Karan Johar confirmed in 2018 that he would be producing a biopic on the life of Captain Vikram Batra. The Batra family wanted Sidharth Malhotra to play Batra. He was eventually selected to portray the double role of Batra and his identical twin brother Vishal. Several actresses were in discussions to play Batra's fiancée, Dimple Cheema before Kiara Advani was cast. Malhotra started military training for the film in April 2019. Before the official announcement of the film, it was speculated that the title will be "Mera Dil Maange More" but later was changed to "Shershaah".

The film was officially announced on 2 May 2019, with the title confirmed and shooting locations to be Chandigarh, Palampur, Kangra, Kargil, Ladakh and Kashmir Valley. Principal photography commenced on 7 May 2019 and the film wrapped on 12 January 2020. Patchwork shots were completed by 23 October 2020.

Soundtrack

The songs featured in the film were composed by Tanishk Bagchi, B Praak, Jasleen Royal, Javed-Mohsin and Vikram Montrose with lyrics written by Manoj Muntashir, Rashmi Virag, Anvita Dutt, Jaani and Bagchi. John Stewart Eduri composed the film score. The music album which was released by Sony Music India on 16 August 2021, was considered as the biggest soundtracks of 2021 and had crossed 1 billion streams in all music platforms, becoming the fastest Indian album to do so. The soundtrack remains the only work that does not feature the collaboration between Vishnuvardhan and Yuvan Shankar Raja, who had been his norm composer in all his previous films.

"Raataan Lambiyan" and "Ranjha" featured on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200. Songs topped the national and global charts, in all music and video platforms. The song "Mann Bharrya 2.0" was recreation of B Praak's single "Mann Bharrya" released in April 2017. It was recreated by the same team of original song with singer B Praak and composer-songwriter Jaani.

Release

The film was scheduled to release theatrically on 3 July 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 20 February 2021, the new release date was announced as 2 July 2021, before being postponed again. The film premiered on 12 August 2021 on Amazon Prime Video. On 31 August 2021, Amazon stated that Shershaah had become the most watched Indian film on the platform. The film was streamed by audiences in over 4,100 Indian cities and towns, and in 210 countries and territories.

Reception

Upon release, Shershaah received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised Malhotra and Advani's performances and the action sequences but some criticised the writing of the film. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 calling Shershaah "power-packed" and wrote, "Shershaah salutes the valor, courage and bravery of Kargil war hero Captain Vikram Batra, Inspirational and emotional. A game changer for Sidharth Malhotra. Commanding act. Unmissable!. Director VishnuVardhan narrates the story of Shershaah with utmost competency. Screenwriting is absorbing for most parts. The war sequences are executed with flourish. The finale is sure to leave you moist-eyed."

Key details