Sam Bahadur is the biopic of India’s first Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw who was instrumental in leading the forces over many wars. The story here is rousing and inspiring with traces of empathy along the way. Biopic as a genre is probably the toughest to crack given that you need to pick and choose the events to incorporate from the life of an individual who has already achieved a lot in his/her lifetime. And hence the general template of a biopic ia devoid of any surprises while also running the risk of being fragmented. It was seen just a week ago in Napoleon wherein the drama seemed fragmented almost like reading a Wikipedia page based on the life of the individual. The same fragmentation could have been an issue here too if not for the perfect pacing of the film that not only rescues the drama, but also makes it a brilliant watch. The screenplay standing at 150 minutes does make for a compelling watch that is rousing and inspiring in so many ways. The drama needs to be looked from the gaze of a documentation to truly understand and savour the beats of the narrative. And if you do so then you will be rewarded! 

Perhaps the weakest 15 minute period of this biopic is at the very start wherein I did feel that the writing was dodgy and fragmented. The entire episode of suddenly introducing the protagonist(firstly as a child to later as a foreshadow in the drama) to giving a little glimpse of his rebellious nature in his early days, the drama seemed to be wobbly in many ways with little to no coherence between scenes. But the drama gathers momentum with the introduction of a love angle while switching gears to the war zone. I suddenly felt invested in the drama with the writers hitting the right kind of emotions in the first war zone of 1942. In between, the Parsi culture is well represented either through the talks of famous Parsi dishes between Sam and his cadet, or the attire worn by the Parsi characters. The aesthetics of a Parsi household(barring the language) was quite good! 

The proceedings are interesting while quickly touching upon the crucial instances in the life of Sam Manekshaw against the backdrop of the politics in play. This includes a heartwarming scene featuring the army assembling together for the last time before the partition takes place which would divide not only the nation but also the army into two fragments, with a bitter history to follow in the hindsight. Yet, the loyalties of the protagonist are firmly established while also lacing the proceedings with a lot of empathy. You do get a brief look at his personal life featuring Sam’s wife and children while his mind is always bent towards the nation while wishing to serve in the warfront. 

Things are set up nicely with the introduction of Indira Gandhi with whom Sam Manekshaw had had a bittersweet equation, something that is well highlighted. But the writing scores with establishing the character traits of the protagonist who is righteous and straight-forward while always treating everyone around him equally, be it the PM or the lowest cadet in his regiment. The politics though takes center-stage in the second hour with the character reacting to the situation. This includes the Dacca massacre that was also depicted in the recently released film Pippa(which also had Sam Maneckshaw as a character). 

Now, there might be some criticism around the final act wherein the planning and plotting of the 1971 war lead by Sam Manekshaw was used only as a passing reference. But my counter would be that the film was never only about the 1971 war and hence, it didn’t need to go into any details. What mattered was the focus on Sam and the leadership qualities that he showcases while putting his country first over his family. Yes, a 2.5 hour film may never do justice to the contributions of Sam Manekshaw towards the nation, but there was an endearing quality in the screenplay that had me hooked right throughout.