Sarbjit is a film that hovers around jail rooms, India-Pakistan border and lots of tears. The film hits lot of right beats in its 130 minutes but the nature of this story is such that it makes room for lot of repetitiveness making the film feel seldom long. The film doesn’t feel fast and brisk in first half. The proceedings aren’t captivating even if they aren’t boring.
But the momentum takes a flight post intermission when we are well versed with each character’s pain and ambition. In fact, some of the film’s best moments are in second half like the one where a Pakistani Lawyer a sarcastically enters an anti-India rally or like the one where Aishwarya’s character turns heroic when she orders the Pakistani policeman to stay out of her way. These are subtle and nuanced scenes that leave solid impact. However one can’t deny that by the end, there is a sense of exhaustion because of its inconsistent pace.
The songs don’t add or subtract much from the experience. The dialogues at places are very clever and well used within the boundary of melodrama.
Aishwarya Rai is extremely sincere as Dalbir Singh even if her character doesn’t have an arc of emotions. She is constantly sobbing and giving loud-mouthed speeches. Randeep Hooda is very good in a role that’s both challenging and one-note. Richa Chadha makes a lot out of her few scenes and especially the one where she outbursts on Aishwarya’s character.
Sarbjit is fairly average movie of a very sad story. Even if it chews out lot of patience in first half, it still ends after an engrossing second half. A little more effort perhaps could have made it a lot better film.
Rating: 2/5
Tags: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Member Reviews Omung Kumar Randeep Hooda Richa Chadha Sarbjit
