Sarbjit (2016)

It's an era for Biographies in India, followed by Neerja and Azhar, Sarbjit is a very sensitive topic for a film. Some brilliant performances by Randeep Hooda, Aishwarya Rai and Richa Chadha. Omung Kumar has beautifully directed the film with all small intricacies. A tragic real-life story. A perfect cast for for Sarabjit- Randeep Hooda has lived more than the expectations. His grief, accent and looks complete the ensemble. His performance is overall quite praise- worthy, just falling short of a little longer screen time. Aishwarya Rai tries to quite live up to the character but there are areas that could have been improved. At some places her walking styles, her lip-twisting and chest-thumping are too posh for a character like Dalbir Kaur. Some of us hark back to her purple lips at Cannes. Although her voice tone impresses you. She has been quite successful to exhibit anger, unstaggering devotion,helplessness and trauma in each and every frame. Richa- Chadha's 3 minute monologue in a closed room with Aishwarya is exemplary. The screenplay, locations and overall-efforts are outstanding, though at a time the Anti-Pakistani Sentiments are a bit too much. Long-stressed empathy is remarkable and will find a place in every person-Be it a Hindustani or Pakistani or any other human. Dialogues are well- written and impactful. Personally, the movie has more songs than it would require. Some are just unnecessary. The first 15 minutes are too fast- showing many happy, emotional and traumatic scenes at a go. This leaves the movie dipping in the post-interval period. But overall I would suggest it's a must-watch to evoke the humanity, empathy and awareness in us. I give it a 8/10.