Sarbjit Review: Of inhuman bondage

Biopics which have a tragic climax and have been extensively covered in the media raise expectations apart from coming under intense scrutiny. This is primarily due to the fact that the director is largely restrained from resorting to fictionalising or using creative licences, as he pieces together the vignettes of his principal character’s life and times.

In this case, Omung Kumar sticks to the narrative that has been familiar to those who have followed this heart-rending story. Of an innocent Sikh farmer Sarabjit Singh Atwal, who strays unknowingly in an inebriated condition into Pakistani soil, is framed as a spy by them on a mistaken identity and finally becomes a victim of political skullduggery between the two nations, after an agonizing jail sentence of 20-odd years.

With one-upmanship films between the two nations, largely confined to spy dramas and melodramatic kitsch basing itself on love and brotherhood, this film boldly rips open the contrived air of friendship. Realistically, it also portrays the green shoots of hope that are present in both the nations, who place humanitarian attitudes above everything else, even when the situation is hardly inspiring.

Randeep Hooda, the happy-go-lucky villager Sarabjit has a sister and a father to take care of, other than his wife, Richa Chadha, in an understated performance, who tends to him as he is busy with his agricultural work. His sister, Aishwarya Rai, (the bespectacled Daljit Kaur whom most are familiar with in real life as the feisty fighter) dotes on him and takes up cudgels on his behalf as he goes missing.

This is primarily her story, one that is of endless waiting and petitioning, moving the unyielding legal machinery into some kind of a positive action on both sides of the border. Her case is rendered difficult because she has a mountain to climb in the form of a suspicion that her brother was caught spying, which makes the local authorities reluctant to openly come to her support. Of course, hostilities run high across the Wagah border too where the public want nothing but capital punishment for the offender in their custody.

Fixing itself in this specific zone, the film highlights the sordid drama in the dark, hell hole of a prison in which Hooda is held for no fault of his, raving and ranting and almost losing his mental equilibrium apart from hope that he will ever be set free. Full credit to the actor for his consummate performance, for which he lost considerable weight. It may be a coincidence as his features resemble the real Sarabjit to a great extent.

Aishwarya, who has not always been reckoned for her histrionics, makes ample progress in that department, her raspy voice adding to the effect of the role, a steely yet frustrated soul, yearning for her brother. Her performance is top notch, especially when she confronts the Pakistani security in the climax scene and chides them for their cowardice in attacking an unarmed prisoner.

A grim tale, of course, which could have done with a little more pace in the second half. Otherwise, it is surely one among the better made films of its genre, a worthy watch for one.

Film Name : Sarbjit
Cast : Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Richa Chadha and Randeep Hooda
Direction : Omung Kumar
Genre : Drama
Likes : Aishwarya Rai and Randeep Hooda
Dislikes : Laggard pace towards the climax