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Some of my regular readers pinged me asking why haven’t I posted a review of the most talked about Bollywood film, ‘Sultan’. You know I couldn’t have missed on this Salman Khan starer biggie. But I delayed watching for something special..
So this happened yesterday, a special screening for National and State level wrestling champions courtesy Grand Cinemas. It is a part of the Cine Grand group which has multiplexes located across US, Romania and Bulgaria.
The event saw over 30 budding wrestlers from different parts of Haryana coming for this special screening and celebrating the true spirit of wrestling. Some of the well-known names in wrestling circuit spotted here were Abhishek and Harish Yadav both State level athletes of Rohtak, Neeraj Yadav State level athlete of Ambala, Gaurav Panchal State level athlete of Sirsa and Brijesh Thakran.
What Worked for Me:
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Script: The story and its transitions have been penned down really well. Also, the story has been written keeping the present day context of Pro-kabaddi, Pro-wrestling league etc. in mind.
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Salman Khan: I guess it has become the habit of this actor to steal the show. Sorry Anushka but your efforts will be going largely unnoticed in the movie.
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Music: Few songs especially Bulleya (sung by Papon), Jogi & Jag Ghoomeya songs are fresh, exceptional and are sure to touch your heart.
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The Cast & Direction: It is the sheer acumen of YRF team that the entire cast of the movie has done justice to each of their roles. At the end of the day big or small roles don’t matter, what matters is how convincingly they have been played. So be it leading pair of the movie or the seasoned actors like Parikshit Sahni & Kumud Mishra or the newbies Amit Sadh & Anant Sharma they have all outshined in their respective performances. Also, my observation mentioned in my review of Te3n movie has been proven to be correct again. This film has been directed by the same person who has written the story namely Ali Abbas Zafar (earlier works include Gunday).
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Background Score: Without such an influential and power-packed background score the film would have been a dud. It worked as a parallel actor and performed its role to the core.
What Didn’t Work for Me:
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Editing of the film: Few scenes in the film are irrelevant and annoying as they try to take the film away from reality and are unbelievable like match commentators putting down their mics to support a player, wife coaching her husband during pregnancy and hero getting back in the ring after such a major injury.
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Use of brands in the film especially the cable TV service. It went over the top.
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The length of the film: By the time interval happens I had started to think that maybe it was a no intermission film. Suddenly after five minutes the intermission happened and I realized that it is a lengthy movie.
Story:
Akash (Amit Sadh) is a franchise owner in Pro-Take Down which is a loss-making business venture. He lands in Rewari, a small district of Haryana, to find Sultan who is an Olympic medal winner in wrestling. He believes that Sultan can bail him out of the crisis but meets a contrasting personality one that has a plunging-belly, is demoralized and has left wrestling years before.
Akash comes to know of Sultan’s story of becoming a top wrestler and the reason of leaving it at the prime time of his career. He persuades him to make a come back to wrestling and this is when the fighter in Sultan plunges back, only to gain back his confidence, his love, overcome his guilt and fulfill his dream.
My Verdict:
4 Stars out of 5
In Bollywood, there is a Shenshah, a Badshah, and now it’s official that it has a ‘Sultan’ as well. Seriously love him, hate him but you cannot ignore Salman’s recent films. They have good scripts, good performances, and an excellent take away moral learning.
I would say, “Go & Watch the Movie Now!” but before that don’t forget to book your ticket in advance since most theaters and multiplexes are going houseful.
As Sultan says in the movie, “I am not Dead. I am Alive & Kicking!”
Sultan poster image: https://www.facebook.com/sultanthemovie/photos/a.1606206199640996.1073741828.1580052648923018/1688387084756240/?type=3&theater