It is tough to write a movie for a star, a star as big and perhaps the most popular in the country, for expectations soar on all quarters. On the contrary it is easy too; you can get away with almost anything. But when the writer/director decides it ought to be a script based on wrestling, the options to cast are limited. Why risk when you have the biggest star who hates his shirt as much as his fans do and as a bonus you can do way with his bottom too..
The story of “Sultan” has no surprises. It is not truly a sports film. It begins on a romantic note and graduates to a story of a fighter who fights himself for himself. The screenplay strolls on expected lines. It is the writer’s focus to find a middle ground in everything that works for the movie. There are clichés galore but they do not wear you out. There is melodrama too, but it is not stretched. On the flip side there is hardly any wrestling in this movie on wrestling. The time spent on preparation is much more than the wrestling itself. There are hardly any goose bump moments or the adrenaline rush you want to feel in a typical sports movie. There are some adorable scenes, some lingering moments that could have worked better.. If only
Salman Khan as Sultan? There are two characters in “Sultan”, one in the ring and the other outside the ring. Salman looks very much the wrestler inside the ring, but outside the ring he wobbles. Salman “Khant” act neither in front of the camera nor behind it. Salman stays Salman in Sultan. Perhaps the director had it easy. Shot needs Salman to be brooding, wake him up before the alarm goes off. Shot needs Salman to be happy, get him off the TV show he is in right now. Shot needs Salman to be angry, as easy as much as risky. “Sultan” in the script should have had the cheekiness of Shah Rukh Khan, the methodness of Aamir Khan and the physique of a Salman Khan, but Salman barely manages anything. He is miscast as the immature lover boy who is also a “kite runner”. But there is plenty for his fans. Plenty of him to see.. Anushka Sharma too looks a slight misfit as a wrestler. Perhaps the director made a compromise. Salman looks very much the wrestler and scores low on performance while Anushka barely looks a wrestler, not even from the largest ultra wide angle lens, but does perform. Randeep Hooda is wasted and the others just exist.
The camera work is fluid, the editing though patchy works, the dialogues could have been a lot better and the writing a little more crisp. Music is the movie’s high point with all the songs deserving appreciation. The back ground score too is good, especially the title track “Re Sultan” that continuously haunts throughout the movie. Direction is commendable.
On the whole “Sultan” is a decent watch that could have been better with a better Khan or even better a better Salman.
SULTAN – Oh SALMAAAN!!!
3/5
B.U.Shreesha
