RSVP’s Sam Bahadur (UA) is a biopic of India’s Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. It narrates his rise from a conscientious armyman to the Field Marshal of India, a post to which he was elevated by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Bhavani Iyer, Shantanu Srivastava and Meghna Gulzar have written an engaging story based on the real life of Sam Manekshaw, including his professional as well as personal life. The trio’s screenplay is interesting but it is a bit slow-paced in the first half. The post-interval portion is more fast-paced and also more entertaining. However, having said that, it must be added that by its very nature, the story does not inspire the feeling of patriotism as much as one would expect in a biopic of a national hero. Of course, that is not the mistake of the writers, but the life story itself (of Sam Manekshaw) is less about patriotism and more about his brilliance and sharpness. Hence his intellect makes the audience feel proud but it doesn’t fill their hearts with a sense of patriotism. The drama sometimes gives the feeling that one is watching a documentary on Manekshaw. The trio’s dialogues are very good but not clapworthy. In fact, the one-liners are quite the entertaining part of the second half. Without them, the drama may have appeared a bit dry and boring too.
Vicky Kaushal lives the title role. He has worked very hard on his look, gait and performance, and all that makes his acting real and distinguished. Fatima Sana Shaikh is wonderfully restrained as Indira Gandhi. Sanya Malhotra is wonderful as Sam’s wife, Silloo. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is nice in the role of Yahya Khan. Neeraj Kabi leaves a mark as Jawaharlal Nehru. Ravindra Vijay is excellent as Sam Manekshaw’s house help, Swami. Kalki Koechlin makes her presence felt in a brief special appearance. Govind Namdev (as Sardar Patel), Padmanabha S. Kotian (as V.P. Menon), Edward Sonnenblick (as Lord Mountbatten), Digvijay Purohit (as Brigadier Thapar), Pushpdeep Singh (as Brigadier Kalwant Singh), Ankur Sharma (as minister Sardar Baldev Singh), Akashdeep Sabir (as Maharaja Hari Singh), Varun Narang (as Sheikh Abdullah), Rajat Bhalla (as Syed Mir Qasim), Anjan Srivastava (as minister Y.B. Chavan), Farah Titina (as Sherry), Zeus Paranjpe (as Dinky), Narayan B.K. (as rifleman Tamang), Jeet Sundor (as Captain Datta), Shreas Pardiwala (as Captain Behram Panthaki), Elango Kumaravel (as defence minister Krishna Menon), Prajesh Kashyap (as Iftikhar), Eklavya Kashyap (as Jeet Singh), Ujjwal Chopra (as Lt. Gen. B.M. Kaul), Sudhir Singh (as Lt. Gen. Kumaramangalam), Kenny Basumatary (as Assamese colonel at Tezpur), Vivek Bahl (as President Radhakrishnan), Sanjay Roy (as President Zakir Hussain), Daljeet Singh (as minister Sardar Swaran Singh), Uday Sabnis (as minister Jagjivan Ram), Rohit Kokate (as Ayub Khan), Kanishka Deo (as journalist Nitya Anand), Richard Bhakti (as Ambassador Keating), Jeff Goldberg (as Henry Kissinger), Sanjay Gurbaxani (as Admiral Nanda), Alok Arora (as R.N. Kao), Shorba Bhattacharya (as Union minister Siddharth Shankar Ray), Manish Bamba (as General Abdul Hamid Khan), Darius Chinoy (as Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal), Atul Kale (as defence secretary K.B. Lal), Upen Chauhan (as Tikka Khan), Rohan Verma (as Captain Attiqur Rehman), Jaskaran Singh (as sepoy Meher Singh), Krishn Kant Bundela (as Subedar Gurbaksh Singh), Sky (as Captain Srinivas), Sumit Singh (as Captain Farid), Dhanveer Singh (as Lt. Dilsher Singh), Ankur Rajveer Singh (as Lt. Col. Depinder Singh), Rajiv Kachhru (as Hormusji), Dilshad Edibum (as Hilla), and the rest lend the desired support.
Meghna Gulzar’s direction is good. She has been able to narrate the drama in a manner that it sustains the viewers’ interest. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music is in synch with the mood of the film but the songs are not of the popular variety or which can top the music charts. The ‘Badhte chalo’ song is very nice. Gulzar’s lyrics are weighty. Vijay A. Ganguly’s choreography is appealing. Ketan Sodha’s background music is impactful. Jay I. Patel’s cinematography is excellent. Parvez Shaikh’s action and stunt scenes afford a lot of thrill. Production designing (by Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray) and art direction (Avijit Ghosh and Rajat Pathkar) are of a fine standard. Nitin Baid’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Sam Bahadur is a fair entertainer for the classes. It may have taken a slow start but it will pick up on the strength of its appeal for the class audience mainly. Of course, because mass patronage will be limited, its business at the box-office, in the final tally, will also be limited.
Released on 1-12-’23 at Inox (daily 6 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by RSVP. Publicity: good. Opening: very ordinary. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark.