 at a party and tells her right there){kind=link}
Sam Bahadur Star Cast/ Actors: Vicky Kaushal as Field marshal Sam Manekshaw, Sanya Malhotra as Silloo Manekshaw Sam’s wife, Fatima Sana Shaikh as Indira Gandhi, Neeraj Kabi as Jawaharlal Nehru, Edward Sonnenblick as Lord Mountbatten, Govind Namdev as Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Yahya Khan.
Sam Bahadur Release Date: December 1, 2023
Sam Bahadur Available On: Theatrical release (and likely to be released on Zee5 Digital Platform)
Sam Bahadur Released/ Available In Languages: Hindi
Sam Bahadur Runtime: 150 Minutes
Sam Bahadur Critic Review:
To capture the vast life of India’s first Field Marshal is a daunting brief for any director. Meghna Gulzar, showing flashes of her illustrious father’s wry sense of humour, begins with Sam Manekshaw’s name. Christened Cyrus in the cradle which was changed after a hilarious dialogue between his parents, there’s another chuckle at how he acquired the nickname Sam Bahadur.
The dare devil, the ladies’ man, and the gentleman cadet who spots Silloo Mody (Sanya Malhotra) at a party and tells her right there, “I’m going to marry you” fast forwards to a family man who gifts his wife a brooch. “Where are we being posted?” asks Silloo pertly, the soldier’s wife understanding what follows a bribe.
When Sam gets nine bullets in the stomach, writhes with pain and is asked by the English doctor how he got hurt, “A bloody mule kicked me” he says, his humour never deserting him. There’s a cute reaction from him to the news that Nehru’s daughter Indira is getting married to a Parsee. His equation with the cook from Tamil Nadu also has its moments. The humour returns much later too when Silloo reacts like a miffed partner every time there’s a call from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with whom Sam had a special relationship, even daring to call her “Sweetie”, the way he did with most ladies.
The good part is that Meghna firmly moves out of the ‘female director’ bracket she had got into with her first film Filhaal, an essentially feminine subject that the gender is supposed to stick to. From wooing Silloo from a young man’s point of view and building the ‘buddyship’ between army men like Sam and Yahya Khan who fought on the same side before 1947 to demarcating politics from the army and going into the battlefield, it is a director at work, not a gender.
Through the accession of Kashmir, battling the Japanese, describing himself as an Indian when Jinnah wants him to choose Pakistan, and moving up to becoming Lt General, outmaneuvering Pakistan, the Bangladesh victory, being awarded the Padma Vibhushan and being appointed the Field Marshal, is all a part of Sam lore and Meghna faithfully chronicles it.
Unfortunately, there’s a thin line between a fine biopic and a factual documentary and when Meghna with co-writers Bhavani Iyer and Shantanu Srivastava crosses unwittingly into documentary territory, weariness sets in. With background songs used to show the armed force prepping for war and Ayub Khan on the Pak side coming off like a routine villain, the sparkle goes out.
The performances that elevated Raazi are sorely missed. Fatima Sana Sheikh as stiff-necked Indira Gandhi doesn’t impress as a strong Prime Minister and Sanya Malhotra as Silloo doesn’t brighten the screen.
The bravest act comes from Vicky Kaushal who has a screen presence to hold the show. However, the slight hunch, the hint of a stomach sticking out and pursed lips sometimes look more like he’s mimicking Manekshaw rather than playing him.
Sam Bahadur – Watch Or Not?: To avoid the toxicity of Animal, one may venture in to watch a gentleman soldier who did India proud. Or wait to watch him on OTT.
Sam Bahadur Review Score Rating: 3 out of 5 (i.e. 3/5)
Sam Bahadur Official Trailer:
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