Sultan - Salman ups his game as an actor. ❤😍

Genre :- Drama / Romance / Sports

Runtime :- 2 hrs 50 mins.

Plot :- Sultan is the story of a wrestler who quits the sport after a personal tragedy, but returns to it for the very reason he left.

There is something about Salman Khan. Either you love him for his charm, screen presence or bold attitude or you hate him due to his controversial remarks or brush with law but you cannot deny the fact that he is one superstar whose stardom and films are not impacted at the box office. 😍❤ Even the morning shows were housefull at 8 AM everywhere for "Sultan". Quite sums it up.

Now let me tell you whether it lived upto its hype.

Khoon mein tere mitti
Mitti mein tera khoon.
Khoon mein tere mitti
Mitti mein tera khoon.

Upar Allah, niche dharti
Beech mein tera junoon
Aye Sultan! ☺

These are guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings.
Be it our patriotic pride, our soft spot for the underdog. (Just in the film obviously. 😜)

Let me tell you this is not just another Salman Khan film where he is overemphasized. Infact, it is that uncommon film wherein the female counterpart is given an equivalent role, or even more. And also, the supporting cast get enough light to shine.
(Read : Anant Sharma as Govind is great.)

Some highlights from the movie.

❤ This movie isn't about looking upon women as an object of ridicule when they don't forgive their partner of the wrongdoings unblinkingly. Infact, here the whole thing is about the man seeking forgiveness from his women throughout, instead of being like "Galti toh sabse hoti hai".
Uncommon isnt it ?

❤ Where every other movie these days make the religion of the protagonist, a socio-political point to either depict tensions or spread a message of communal amity, this here is a film where both central characters are Muslims, they have many Hindu associates and friends, yet after a point one barely notices.

❤ The most beautiful thing about 'Sultan' is that he is actually shown wrestling in the film. There are enough wrestle sequences in the movie that makes this movie what it is. Unlike "Brothers".

❤ Sultan has an emotional core that is hard to resist. Writer-director Ali Abbas Zafar is clever in the way he uses his actors, the innate poignancy of his story and Vishal-Shekhar's songs to create a moving whole. Even when Jag ghoomeya is abruptly and awkwardly inserted into the narrative, the tune and words do not lose their appeal.

❤ Some lines are clearly populist, but spry enough to make you crack up. Whether it is the discomfort of a desi munda to understand and speak 'English' or some facts about 'Asli Jats', they break you in chuckles.

❤ Unexpectedly, Sultan has some interesting feminist elements that do not come across as being put-on to impress.

❤ A special mention to Salman Khan here.
Whatever be his acting weaknesses, he is clearly not insecure. This is a star who has the confidence to share screen space with far superior performers – Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Kick, Siddiqui in Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Anushka Sharma and the wonderful supporting cast here in Sultan. And that, is commendable.

❤ Here you will encounter stereotypical Bollywood romance coupled with song-dance routine and light humor to keep you enlightened. Boy sees girl. He falls in love. He tries to woo the girl. And after few songs, the girl agrees. 👅
But that's passable, after all the movie isn't about their love story but about 'Sultan's' last shot at redemption.

Editing and Narration :- The editing could have been a bit better and the songs could have been trimmed down. I found '440 volt' to be unnecessary. But none of this would have worked though if it were not for the manner in which the narrative is stirring when you are least expecting it. ☺👍

Music :- I loved the folk song "Tuk Tuk" and the tuneful "Jag Ghoomeya" while others were ordinary. "Baby ko bass pasand hai is fine too.

Background score by Julius Packiam deserves special mention. Cinematography by Arthur Zurawski is good and crisp capturing the beautiful locales of rural India.

Performance :-

💨 It is Salman Khan all the way. Salman Khan is Sultan and Sultan is Salman Khan. I cannot imagine anyone else playing the character of "Sultan" and that is where Salman proved his mettle. The actor deep dives into the character as if it was tailor-made for him and gives his best.
There are some scenes wherein he struggles to get expressions on his face.
Despite his acting limitations and the manner in which he swallows many of the dialogues here, it is to his credit that he appears to have submitted to his director in this film, that there is more to his performance than the remarkable work he has put into building his body to suit the role of a wrestler, and Zafar has managed to get the best that any director has got out of him so far. Thumbs up !

💨 Anushka Sharma as Aarfa, is clearly living every moment. Be it her accent, her delivery or just her pretty face; this girl has got everything in her that deserves an applause.

💨 Amit Sadh plays it nicely as the owner of an Indian pro-Mixed Martial Arts team.

💨 Randeep Hooda as the trainer, who keeps chomping on food items, and who will, we know, help slap our out-of-shape, overweight wrestler into shape, reminds me of Mary kom's trainer or Clint Eastwood of 'Million Dollar Baby'. Hooda will blow your mind with impeccable performance.

💨 The new face Anant Sharma, who plays Sultan's best friend, does the Haryanvi accent to a T. I look forward to see him in future movies. He is fresh with a good timing. In his words, ''Kar Di Chadayi". (U will know the meaning of this after seeing the movie. 👀)

💨 Mishra who plays Anushka's father does a fine job as well.

Here is an excerpt from the stories of our Censor Board's sillyness. The Censors got the producers of Sultan to cut out the words "Pant mein” (in your pants) and replace them with "Paas mein". ''Apni mardani ko apni pant mein daba kar rakho'', was the actual dialogue. *Sic*

💐 All in all, Sultan is a deeply satisfying movie that makes you understand the importance of Hope and Relationships. This is the perfect eidi from Salman Khan. Highly Recommended ! 💐

Eid Mubarak ! ❤

Ratings :- 3.5 / 5

✍♠ Prizmi Tripathi ♠