Jul 08, 2016 11:02 PM
2088 Views
There’s a moment somewhere in the beginning of the film when Salman Khan’s character comes to a halt at a rail crossing, and waits, just like the rest of us do, for the train to pass.
In that instant we know that Sultan is about to push twin boundaries. Of a star’s scope, and of mainstream Bollywood. That this will not be the super-human, super-hero Bhai who has been shown crossing the tracks just a whisker ahead of a rushing locomotive from one of his several forgettable flicks. That this will be a Khan who has to, literally, do a lot of heavy-lifting to win the crown.
And win it he does. ‘Sultan’ has him breaking free from Bhai-giri bondage by getting his character to crack and bleed. His down-and-out wrestler has foibles, is fallible, is human. Sultan Ali Khan has faults, and is punished for it. Because of which Sultan scores, and delivers a solid entertainer with heft.
We saw Sultan in the ring, an enclosed dirt pit onto which he purposefully strides(amidst raucous cheers in the theater—standard protocol for Khan’s intro scene in any of his films) before breaking both regional records and his opponents’ bones with the brute force of his boulder-like arms. But Sultan hasn’t always been king of the wrestling. An aimless cable installer in his small Haryana town north of Delhi, he first develops an appetite to fight when he falls hard for the beautiful, English-educated Aarfa(Anushka Sharma). A wrestler herself, with Olympic dreams, Aarfa won’t consider marrying him until he shows some direction in life.
Meanwhile, the movie’s themes are surface-deep: Perseverance, forgiveness, hard work and humility lie at its heart and in its message. Zafar treats us to some striking rural and urban panoramas while relaying that message, as Sultan gears up along mustard fields of Haryana in the first half, and in front of Delhi’s iconic India Gate in the second. Tongue-in-cheek humor is woven in at appropriate moments, and Khan’s delivery is on point. The movie makes a few earnest attempts at injecting a feminist aspect into the material, with Aarfa delivering an impassioned monologue about equality in gender roles.
Sultan is quite a long film but more or less, it has enough moments to keep one engrossed and highly entertained. Sultan’s entry as expected is legendary! In fact, the first half has enough entertaining sequences that keeps the interest level going – be it the kite chase sequence or the chase in the ‘akhada’ or of course the romantic portions between Sultan and Aarfa. One wonders from the very start as to what went wrong in Sultan’s life and one does feel bad when the reason is finally unveiled. However, the entire sequence of Sultan becoming arrogant is little unconvincing as it happens too quickly. Post-intermission, the fun continues. The training scenes and the sequences of the matches are something viewers have already seen in Brothers. But Brothers wasn’t well-directed while the said portions in Sultan are too good and even clapworthy. However, the second half becomes too stretched. The film goes on a high in the pre-climax and one expects the climax to be even better. But that doesn’t happen, surprisingly. The very final scene of the film during the end credits tries to make up for it to an extent.
Sultan rests on Salman Khan and he carries the film beautifully on his strong shoulders. The superstar is often accused of not working hard enough but in Sultan, it is evident that he has worked very hard and it shows. He looks completely like a wrestler and his accent is convincing enough to pass off as a Haryanvi. And he’s adorable in the romantic and comic scenes. And the effect that he has on the masses is something is simply stunning…hats off! Anushka Sharma does very well and plays the role of the tough wrestler nicely. She has very little wrestling scenes though but even in those few scenes, she does impress. Amit Sadh is splendid and gives a restrained and impressive performance. Randeep Hooda(coach) delivers a great performance and adds to the film. However, in the climax, he hardly had anything to do. Were his scenes chopped off after his sudden hospitalization? Anant Sharma(Govind, Sultan’s pal) lends great support. Kumud Mishra(Aarfa’s father) is terrific as always. Meiyang Chang and Kubra Sait do a good job as commentators. Others are good.
Vishal-Shekhar’s music is not something that will be memorable for a long time overall, but the songs are nicely incorporated. The title song is splendid and well utilized. This is followed by Jag Ghoomeya and Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai. Julius Packiam’s background score as always enhances impact. Artur Zurawski’s cinematography is award-worthy – the wrestling sequences are nicely shot. Credit should also go Larnell Stovall, who choreographed the MMA sequences. Ali Abbas Zafar’s direction is great and quite simple. He rocked with his first film Mere Brother Ki Dulhan but disappointed with Gunday. Thankfully he’s back in form with Sultan. He falters a bit – there are places where the film is too quick or a bit slow – and it’s quite lengthy as well. But a great job overall as he has managed to make the film as mainstream as possible!
On the whole, Sultan is a rocking mainstream entertainer that will be loved for it’s performances, simple but engrossing execution and some highly entertaining moments. Salman Khan is in great form and rocks big time! The film has it’s minuses but the best part is that it’s a film that has a pan India appeal, which rarely happens nowadays, unfortunately. Hence, Sultan can work big time at the box office and is bound to bring cheer for the trade and exhibitors. At the last moment Sultan said very nice he can defeat only with himself, nobody can defeat him. This is a great lesson to all of us.
