Shamshera Reviews

There is a Piyush Mishra hiding inside this big, bad, loud and messy Bollywood blockbuster, that one thought one had left a couple of decades behind.

These arent stumbling blocks for Malhotra who wants, more than anything, to create a big screen extravaganza. There are inventively staged set-pieces in Shamshera where he succeeds, especially in the first half.

These are disappointing flaws in a film that, for multiple reasons, is worthy of a standing ovation.

Another shot in the dark from the have-camera-will-shoot school of moviemaking, Shamshera is a horrendous period film. Period. When a movie does not work, critics often write it off as having ‘lost the plot’.

Shamshera has a very entertaining first half, capped off by a good interval block, but things dip in the second half only for proceedings to pick up again the climax, which is a major high point.

All said and done, Karan Malhotra & YRF witnessed how Thugs Of Hindostan faced the wrath of the Indian audience & still they went ahead to make Sharamshera on a similar template, this is as ambitious as KRK coming with Deshdrohi…

To sum it up, director and co-writer Karan Malhotra surely seemed to have had a grand vision at the onset, but its his execution that seems to have betrayed him.

Ranbir Kapoor riding a horse. Ranbir Kapoor riding a horse with an axe. Ranbir Kapoor riding a horse with an axe and Vaani Kapoor. I won’t be surprised if this is what the draft of Shamshera’s screenplay looked like!

Neelesh Misra and Khila Bisht have penned a story which looks very dated and of an era gone by. To expect the youth of today to identify with the story is foolhardiness.