SATELLITE SHANKAR is about the extraordinary journey of a soldier that brings a nation together. Shankar (Sooraj Pancholi) is a rifleman posted near the LOC in Jammu and Kashmir. He is very popular in his regiment because of his jovial nature. He carries with him an idol of Lord Shankar.

If the audience can somehow cope with the first half of Irfan Kamal's Satellite Shankar, the second half rewards are sweet. It's not that the first half does not have its moments, but the scene when Satellite Shankar (Sooraj Pancholi) meets Pramila (south side actress Megha Akash makes her Bollywood debut, and what a debut it is!).

There's something relentlessly cheerful about this cheerleader-for-the-Armed-forces film called Satellite Shankar. It's the kind of maa-ke-haath-ka-khaana-and-furlough missing-ek-bahadur-fauji-ki-dastaan that Hindi cinema was filled with in the 60s and 70s, all mush and schmaltz, and loud bumper-sticker patriotism.

Sweet, innocent and cheerful Shankar (Sooraj Pancholi) has a special ability; Shankar can spark a light of happiness in others and offer a beam of hope. Nicknamed 'satellite' for this uncommon ability, Shankar one day gets injured in an Indo - Pak crossfire. Advised rest for eight days, Shankar pleads to his superior asking permission for a short holiday to meet his mother (Sohaila Kapur) in Tamil Nadu.

Goodbye, love story, hello, the love-your-country movie. Satellite Shankar is the latest entry in the growing category of films that promote patriotism by valourising the intelligence agencies and the armed forces. Irfan Kamal's second film after the tearjerker Thanks Maa (2009) is less muscular than the year's blockbuster Uri: The Surgical Strike, but the message is the same: the men in olive are the only true patriots in a country whose politicians and commoners are often found wanting.

Shankar, a soldier in the Indian Army gets a week off from his duty, owing to an injury he incurs during a crossfire on the border. But instead of spending this time resting at the hospital, he decides to visit his mother across the country, to help go through her long pending eye operation.

Films banking on patriotism are aplenty in the Hindi film industry; with the last few years seeing a veritable influx. Satellite Shankar adds another name to that list and is a creditable attempt at bringing to life the struggles of our soldiers and their selfless acts of valour.

There's something relentlessly cheerful about this cheerleader-for-the-Armed-forces film called Satellite Shankar. It's the kind of maa-ke-haath-ka-khaana-and-furlough missing-ek-bahadur-fauji-ki-dastaan that Hindi cinema was filled with in the 60s and 70s, all mush and schmaltz, and loud bumper-sticker patriotism.