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Too much of everything

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Sarbjit starts off with overacting galore, blemished further by director's shoddy style of depicting frames. You can't help yourself from falling into pits of instant indifference, the moment songs come into play one after the other. It starts off on a bad foot, there is no doubt about that. But then it takes a pleasant pace, where you actually get to fathom the story of an unfortunate guy muzzled by the grinding gears of countries at war.FLAWS IN THE DIRECTION OF SARBJITThere are hundreds of flaws in direction that walk boldly around in prominence. The worst half of it appeared like a comedy movie. You cannot take seriously a character as they deliver detached unfeeling lines. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the poorest choice one could make for a movie. She fails to get under the skin of the protagonist, and seems aloof from the gravity of the situation. Screenplay doesn't have much to offer except for few occasional dialogues that will make you ponder. Like when she drops:"Where is all the hate coming from?"BEST BITS OF SARBJITThe best part, the most sentient part of the movie, however is when Sarabjit, played exceptionally well by Randeep Hooda, meets his entire family for the first time in jail. You cannot stop yourself from breaking down empathizing with the head of a guy parched for years without love. One of the most shattering moments of the flick! Also, when Sarabjit mournfully broods he must have done something terrible to have met such a fate. You can't help but feel extremely sorry for him. A life lost – as he reflects. Richa Chadha, a brilliant actor, stays overshadowed throughout, under the wraps forever, until one time in the end she tries to image memories from the past by holding Sarbjit's belongings only to keep them so that he stays around in the house. Powerful stuff!As you chug down the movie lane further, there is boisterous uproar from Dalbir Kaur (Aishwarya) which becomes impoverished further by the movie's writing. Terrible I would say as goosebumps fail to register!CONSTANTLY FALLINGAt times it becomes akin an Indian TV soap, sometimes even worst. The music department makes a purposeful endeavour to squeeze in a melancholic tone to make everything sound gloomier. But as you take a good look at it, you have to hand it over to the sister who endures unfettered yet shackled by the plight of his brother. There is so much she does, that is quite relatable of all stuffs, something you would do for your family.IN NEED OF A BETTER DIRECTORAll in all you cannot help wonder of ways the movie on Sarbjit could have been better. The real grim feel behind the situation has been obscured profusely to muster out sentience. If only a better director and writer had eyed Sarabjit first!Read all my reviews here: http://straightfromamovie.com

I saw this film only coz of Randeep. The guy is an amazing actor. What a transformation he did for this. He really looked like the part he portrayed. The movie is plain bad. Period. Randeep gets a 10/10 for his acting n effort but the movie gets only 3 from me. The direction by Omung Kumar is plain bad. Even his first film was pathetic. (Read my reviews of Mary Kom). At least in this film, Randeeps acting n effort was awesome. The screenplay is awful as well as the editing. The film is so melodramatic that at times it became a torture to sit thru it. Aishwarya cannot act for sure. She was jus shouting n screaming. Maybe she shud b given the scream queen award by Jamie Lee Curtis. Actually she robbed Randeep. This movie shud hav jus focused on Randeep. But on contrary, she was all over the trailers/promos/interviews/screen time. At times I thot m I watching a biopic on sarbjit or on his sister. After the failure of Jazbaa, she must hav told her agent get me some biopic, as biopics r the latest trend in bollywood. Biopics requires research, time, dedication n passion. Unfortunately, most of our Indian directors n actors don't have time n passion for it. The best example was Mary kom.

You can say 'this is better than most Bollywood' films made, and that this could be even considered to be a part of great Indian cinema films, But terrible pacing, lack to attention of detail and horrible convincing of time span make this movie a definite miss. I can't comment of the characters itself since it is based on true events. I am not sure how Dalbir Kaur or Sabrjit were/are in real life. The acting was good, I don't think any actor over powered anyone else, each had their own strengths in the movie entirely. Pointing out that I personally enjoyed Randeep Hooda's and Aishwarya Rais acting. She may have been a bit dramatic at times for the sake of it but overall great performances. Now in terms of direction....sigh It did not hit the mark. I only hope something went wrong where they had to resort to rushing certain story lines to add in two or three unnecessary songs. Look I get it, most Indian movies need a song for a break of drama or whatever...but a damn biopic DOES NOT NEED SONG NUMBERS!!!! Please future filmmakers, this is not a film to head to the cinema to enjoy fun times. This is a serious topic and should be told in a serious manner. There's nothing wrong with having no songs. In fact your credibility as a artist is stronger in such dramatic films without them. Details....ZEE NEWS logo Oh my god. Why was the 2016 Zee logo present in news broadcasts of 1990's and early 2000's. There was a different logo for back then. How did they miss that! Such a terrible mistake. Also Shoes of 2014 models of Nike were present in the crowd years before the release. Hmm wonder why? Oh right probably no one looked twice. Then comes the age of the characters...Sabrjit was convincing his weight loss and beard his teeth cheekbones all added up to a great old aged confined look. Could they not hire a proper make up artist for the ladies, you know to actually make them look old, make it look like their body had changed. I mean 20 years later and the wife still has a banging bod no wrinkles, the sister is still got wrinkle-free hands and neck. Her hair has remained beautifully full and thick with few strands of grey hair. Look at Paa where Amitabh Bachan had some good makeup done on him. The tools are present but no one wants to actually use them it seems. Now I am not saying that they can't have great bodies or thick hair even after they age, but the wrinkles thats something that makes the movie the time so so authentic. Its a beautiful visual to have. The Pacing The pacing was on and off. Towards the middle of the film felt the strongest (again no songs) I was engrossed in the film entirely worried and almost at the edge of my seat wondering what happened why isn't the government helping, I felt bad for the sister throughout. At times the film was super fast paced and then suddenly you were taken out of it with bizarre scene or couple of shots. With some song at the back. The cinematography of Kiran Deohans was incredible. The shots were absolutely breathtaking and so beautifully composed. The color palette and the lighting to create the mood was spot on!!! At the end of the day this is a tremendous true story told in a simple decent manner. What matters the most is this story being told, so please don't be offended by my thoughts or comments. 2016 a year where everyone gets butt hurt and critical (myself as well lol)) but in all honesty If little efforts were made to change the look of the wife and sister and small details like Zee TV for example were taken care of I am sure this would have probably ended up as one of the great of 2016 and the last 10 years, but unfortunately for me it didn't. Indian filmmakers have the tools and they have such incredible talent. This isn't mindless cinema kinda film, this is a serious drama film. There are such amazing drama films of true stories or events done so beautifully in India, hundreds of them. But where Sarbjit lacked in delivering the right focus of authenticity, it gained in highlighting a sad truth of the careless government and the conflicts of hundreds of families dealing with the border crisis of India and Pakistan. Only hope for more movies to be made on such topics and such issues to educate people and not separate or spread anymore propaganda hate.

The least you can expect from a biography made by a former Production Designer is a sense of authenticity. The film has a complete lack of authenticity, be it production design or a sense of the age. Add that to the film having no sense of progression of time. The time has been marked by people stating it has been 10 years or 3 years or some other thing.To start with, the film takes a non-linear approach, so that in the beginning when we see Aishwarya Rai and Richa Chaddha crying, we feel no sense of sympathy for them because we have not seen their relationship with Randeep Hooda. After that we go into Aishwarya Rai's traumatic past to create a connection with her, in a manner which is very melodramatic and over the top. Randeep Hooda's capture is very unconvincing, and you never feel the time as it would have been felt by a person living in solitary confinement for years. The madness in his performance is also very inconsistent. His performance is good but hampered by the inconsistency. Aishwarya Rai's performance is over the top and does not evoke anything, it is the sort of performance we have come to expect from her. Richa Chaddha has not been utilized properly as she has to convey all her emotions through staring. Also hampering the narrative are the songs, none of them good and always trying to evoke something different from what is actually happening in the film. One of the worst biopics made in India.