Sultan

Much like the last Eid release Bajrangi Bhaijaan from Salman Khan, Sultan also has this human shade to its credit which makes it a heart warming movie at the end. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Sultan even after having all those limitations of being lengthy and slightly exaggerated succeeds in being a pleasing mixture of emotions and heroics.

The movie happens in the backdrop of this mixed martial arts tournament which isn’t doing well in terms of its economics. So the mastermind of this idea decides to go after Sultan, a man in his 40s who had won Olympic Gold medal for India in the past. Who is Sultan? What’s his past and what are his reasons to fight are what this movie talking about in its elaborate 170 minutes long runtime.

It introduces this fictional mixed martial arts competition in the same way Brothers tried. And it’s not that indigestible. What I liked about the movie is in the way it has presented the character played by Salman Khan. In the last 10 years or so, how many times you have seen Salman Khan playing a character who fights against inner ego? Sultan is pretty much a humane character with all the arrogance and vengeance. That creates the conflict for the plot which also is quite emotional and rooted. Another good thing about Sultan is that Aarfa, played by Anushka Sharma isn’t the Kareena Kapoor of Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Aarfa is there throughout Sultan’s journey and her character has lot to do with the fight Sultan fought. What’s a bit disturbing is the way they constructed the growth of Sultan to an Olympian. It was way too quick in my opinion.

The actor in Salman Khan gets a fair challenge in this film. The wrestler is not like his usual Dabangg characters and he has done a good job in being the sensitive Sultan who puts up a good fight. Anushka Sharma delivered a superb performance as the equally competing and tough Aarfa. Amith Sadh and Randeep Hooda who played important characters in the movie were also good.

Ali Abbas Zafar whose previous creations are mostly box office duds has mixed the commercial and realistic flavours convincingly in this movie. The elaborate screenplay can’t be really criticised as we don’t see an irrelevance in any of the segment. Like I said, the major lack of conviction is in that last portion of first half were you get to see the immediate growth of Sultan. The swiftness of that portion was a little too unconvincing. But Ali Abbas soaks the second half in a rich way which sort of makes it that entertaining and a bit absorbing. Cinematography was good with all those slow motion shots giving us a detailed exposure on Sultan’s tactics. Songs were fine and Jag Ghoomeya is my personal favourite. Background score also peps it up nicely.

So overall I would say Sultan is definitely a pleasing Eid entertainer with almost all the ingredients to please the audience. The length of the movie is that big that you might not remember the flaws I just mentioned above.

Rating: 3.5/5