SHERSHAAH is the story of a brave Indian soldier who laid down his life during the 1999 Indo-Pakistan war. Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra) stays with his parents in Palampur, Himachal and his twin brother, Vishal Batra. Since the time he was a child, he was interested in joining the army. At college, he meets Dimple (Kiara Advani) and falls for her. She reciprocates his love and both start a relationship.

There is something irrefutably comforting about a biopic, especially if it chronicles the life of a true hero. And I do want to stress, true hero. In recent years, we've had too many Bollywood biopics on gangsters and politicians and gangster-politicians. Shershaah honours a man who gave up his life at the age of 24 for his country.

The film Shershaah is a story of PVC awardee brave Indian soldier - Capt. Vikram Batra, who shot to fame and become a household name during the Kargil War in 1999. His indomitable spirit and his unflinching courage in chasing the Pakistani soldiers out of the Indian territory contributed immensely to India finally winning the Kargil War in 1999.

There's something about war movies that makes eyes moist and muscles flex. You take sides and would want to see your favourite characters through all the difficulties and pain. Director Vishnuvardhan's Shershaah also gives you ample chances to empathise with its bunch of brave-heart soldiers without getting overdramatic about it.

Vikram Batra was a committed army man. He was also a family man who was madly in love with his college sweetheart Dimple Cheena. These are some of the things conveyed by writer Sandeep Srivastava's script about the real-life Indian Army captain and Kargil war hero. The rest we already know from internet searches and newspaper reports.

It's been 22 years since the Kargil war. Shershaah is based on the life of Captain Vikram Batra who bravely fought for the nation and was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously. Now without this context if we were told the story of a young man who grew up wanting to join the Army, and is so fearless that he charges towards the enemies without a second's thought for his own safety, a guy so dramatic that when his girlfriend feels a little insecure he cuts his finger with a blade and fills her maang with his own blood, we'd be tempted to find it all so 'filmy ' and unreal.

While designating the code names to his squad, Lt Colonel Y K Joshi assigns a Maharana Pratap, a Charaka, a Sangram, a Chanakya but when it's Shershaah's turn, there's a moment's pause as though anticipating a drumroll followed by a triumphant guitar tune. The movie is a paean to his brave deeds and makes no bones about it.

About the 1999 Kargil War hero and recipient of the highest gallantry award, Paramveer Chakra, Vikram Batra, director Vishnu Varadhan's latest Amazon Prime title, Shershaah, suffers having miscast Sidharth Malhotra. He is a chocolate boy, absolutely unsuited to play the part of a tough Indian Army Officer, Batra, whose first posting was in Jammu and Kashmir, where he helps kill a hardcore militant, Haider.

Captain Vikram Batra's saga is as fresh in the public imagination as if 1999 was yesterday. The memory of this young soldier who died that year fighting the Pakistan Army in Kargil will forever be associated with his pop-culture-referencing victory signal, "Yeh dil maange more" (This heart asks for more), borrowing Pepsi's iconic advertising slogan. Batra was posthumously awarded India's highest military honour for war-time valour, the Param Vir Chakra.

The story is about 'Palampur ka seedha saadha launda' Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra), son of a teacher, who grows up with the dream of serving his country someday. He's so obsessed with the army uniform that he wears it on every occasion in his school. He grows up to prepare for his dream & right before giving the exams, and he falls in love with a very simple Dimple (Kiara Advani).

The Kargil conflict - the toughest mountain warfare ever. Fought at a dizzying altitude of 17,000 feet, this historic war had a lot at stake. The Pakistani troops had infiltrated into the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC), disguised as Kashmiri militants. The skirmishes quickly escalated into a full-blown war that also chalked the journey of a soldier from Lieutenant to Captain for his absolute dare-devilry and patriotic spirit to unfurl the tricolour at the highest point of conflict.

When they asked Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War II, how he managed to singlehandedly hold off an entire company of German soldiers, he shrugged, "They were killing my friends." Murphy's journey was made for the movies; he witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor at the age of 16, had his sister falsify documentation about his birthdate to help him enlist, and by 19, had won the Medal of Honor for his service. In another life, they'd have called him Shershaah.

The first thing that springs to mind as Shershaah unfolds is this: a war hero deserved a far more engaging and energetic film. It is a suitably solemn, restrained account of the brief life and career of a 25-year-old Army Captain who died fighting in the 1999 Kargil war, but it takes inordinately long to get anywhere near full throttle.

One Word Review... Shershaah: POWER-PACKED. #Shershaah salutes the valour, courage and bravery of #Kargil war hero Captain #VikramBatra, #PVC... Inspirational and emotional... A game changer for #SidharthMalhotra... Commanding act... Unmissable! #ShershaahReview