Vicky Kaushal deserves all of it. And he’s only the second reason why people should see Sam Bahadur, made by Meghna Gulzar. The first being that this is a biopic on India’s most celebrated soldier, Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw. That said — if you are looking for a great script, direction, casting and even music, then this will be a wrong film.

All biopics are difficult propositions, but closer home we have done relatively well so far in this genre, with films on MS Dhoni, Mary Kom, Neerja Bhanot, Paan Singh Tomar having all done reasonably well. A film on Sam Bahadur was long overdue and I guess one had to wait for a Vicky Kaushal to step into his shoes for someone to go for it. 

What all did I not like about the film? The casting was a disaster. Both Nehru and Indira looked sickly and ill, Krishna Menon was a caricature. Agreed, you don’t get lookalikes to play such roles, but at least the spirit and the character should have been better defined. However, Sanya Malhotra perfectly walked into the shoes of Silloo Maneckshaw and carried herself very well through the years. 

The script and the music was just poor. Which was sad, considering she was using the best talents, including herself. The script seemed to hang loose, with long periods of lags in between, while the music by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy missed an opportunity to create another feast like Lakshya.

India’s China War of 1962 was a very complex one and there are numerous books published by journalists and soldiers, from Maxwell to Brig Dalvi. And while nobody has any positive feelings to say about Lt Gen B N Kaul, the debacle was actually a result of a huge political mess that Nehru and Menon had engineered. The film only showed Kaul in poor light, but I would have preferred a more complex exposure. 

Finally, Nehru falling off the chair like an amateur stand-up comedian was the last straw in the director’s debacle.

But if you need to watch Sam Bahadur, you need to watch it for Vicky Kaushal. Kaushal’s performance was absolutely topnotch — the expressions, the hunch, the walk, the talk, he did it all. He truly lived and breathed the essence that was Sam Bahadur. Every frame he was in was absolutely brilliant viewing and it sort of nullified all the missed opportunities that the movie was so apparently full of otherwise.

Sam Bahadur is a glorious missed opportunity. Hopefully, some day his story gets remade for another viewing and when they do that, hopefully they find Vicky Kaushal to play him again. Just him. Everything else goes. And we might finally be able to produce a more fitting tribute to the man who inspired not one, not two, but will continue to inspire generations yet to come.

Full movie now streaming online on Zee5.