Here’s A Brutally Honest Review Of The Movie Sarabjit

There’s a dialogue in the movie that hits hard. It is spoken by Sarabjit after he is captured and jailed by the Pakistani authorities, and I am paraphrasing –

“I do not understand why they hate me so much. These people look like us, eat like us and behave like us. Why so much hate then?”

We do not even have to highlight how much mutual hate there is between India and Pakistan. The case in point in every world cup before the match between India and Pakistan –

“World Cup nahi jeete toh chalega! Pakistan ko toh harana hai!”

And who suffer? Innocent prisoners who are being tortured just because they happen to be from the other side of the border. And suddenly, it is not extracting information from a normal prisoner by beating and intimidating him. It is torturing the person inhumanely because that person is Indian.

Human rights and justice can go fuck themselves.

The movie starts with the screaming of Sarabjit’s name as the villagers frantically search for him, led by his sister, expertly played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Then they cut to the happier times when Sarabjit was a happy person and how his sister loved him more than she loved her own husband – a love that is so deep and strong, that it somehow stood up to the deep hate the two countries have against each other.

 

And that is what makes Sarabjit’s sister go on a solo crusade. Aishwarya pulls it off.

Yes, Ash doesn’t look anything like the real Sarabjit’s sister, but who cares? The concern and love she portrayed on screen were as convincing as it could get.

 

Randeep Hooda’s transition from a carefree young man to a bewildered prisoner to a helpless cog in the machine to a hopeful person is stunning.

Despite Ash’s strong performance, it is Randeep’s stellar performance that makes you understand the horrors prisoners go through in the jail on the other side of the border. It is his acting that will make you scared going anywhere near that cursed place, lest you get caught and end up like him.

 

The torture scenes are scarring – for both – the viewers and the on screen Sarabjit

The makeup department does its job incredibly well. They held nothing back this time. You realize the squalor these prisoners live in. You finally see what makes them insane.

 

The songs are forced and the lip sync/dubbing is bad. But it is necessary. Also, Richa Chadda is, for once, overshadowed.

This is probably the only thing that was bad about the movie. But if these songs weren’t included, the movie becomes too dark and depressing. One would not have gotten out of the cinema hall sane.

Richa Chadda gives a good performance, but is grossly overshadowed by the other two actors.

 

The movie’s message hits you where it hurts the most

The politicians are helpless, the courts are helpless, the lawyers are helpless – all the people who can release even a convicted felon in a few hours. But they just cannot – even if there is a mountain of evidence that Sarabjit is innocent.

 

The theme of the movie isn’t Sarabjit’s struggle in a Pakistani prison, or his sister’s indomitable spirit to get Pakistani authorities to release him.

The message of the movie is of helplessness – the stark reality that the hate and distrust between the countries is so deeply ingrained that every Pakistani will be seen as a terrorist, and no Indian will be seen as the enemy – even if people explicitly know that the person is innocent.

 

And that is what is so perfectly shown – the look of helplessness on Aishwarya’s face when everything fails, and Sarabjit finally comes home.

That, the hate and distrust is too deep to even acknowledge any shred of humanity anymore.

Even though both the countries walked side by side against the British before Independence.

What have we come to?

The movie drives this point home as convincingly as possible. No punches pulled.

Honest rating – 3/5.

Go watch it. Cry a lot. Then try to sleep.

Cover Image Source 1, 2.