सरदार

The movie details out the sequence of events just before independence and partition of India till event right after it. The issues of Partition of India on a religious basis by Jinnah is shown with great details. The aftermath of partition and Kashmir conflict is also covered in a way that is understandable to most. The role of Sardar Patel in making India the way it is now is vastly ignored. This movie should be watched by anyone who wants to understand the politics behind creation of Pakistan.

The movie portrays the period of India when India got independence, a time when the Sardar gave the most to our nation and made us one whole nation. It is no doubt that we needed Gandhi when we needed gandhi, but we only need Sardar when we needed Sardar. It is remarkable what he did.

The movie portrays not only Sardar's very realistically. All the other characters are also well portrayed. The events in the movie are well paced and well cut. Acting is phenomenal by Paresh rawal as well as other characters. By watching this movie one would not only peek into life of Sardar but also visualise how the time was after we got independence.

A must watch for everyone who is interested in our nation's history. Must watch for every Indian. One should know how efforts of our freedom fighters have shaped our nation and biggest democracy in the world.

Its a very noble attempt to portray a great man in another perspective. The facts are shown very honestly and without adding a lot of unwanted drama. I specially liked the original B&W clippings in between so that viewers can relate to the happenings around that era. The portrayal of Nehru is very natural. He is shown a little childish yet loyal to Sardar Patel.

Paresh Rawal did a tremendous job at playing Sardar Patel as did Benjamin Gilani and Tom Alter. I couldn't take my eyes off the movie even though there were minor editing glitches. The movie is very fast paced so even a dull autobiographic topic like this turns to be very interesting. A must watch for all Indians and people interested in Indian history!

What worked:

• amazing screenplay and execution; it's hard to not be mesmerized by the storytelling. The makers put strong priority to the dialogues and editing which makes it a powerful movie.
• it's a true story and also an important movie; the use of the real life footages and images worked as a surplus positive narrative for the movie . I personally did not know much about him till I watched this movie
• great ensemble cast; Paresh Rawal, Benjamin Gilani, Tom Alter and Annu Kapoor brought life to their respective characters

What did not work:

• real footages; although the use of footages were meant to enhance the storytelling, the repeated and constant clips of the newspaper article over the pivotal period of the movie can be disturbing and unnecessary at times, unless extremely essential in the narration
• run time; the movie is tight and engaging but it would be better if the run time was shorter

Final verdict: Highly recommended

An amazing movie on an Indian politician, which is probably better than Gandhi by Sir Attenborough. Paresh Rawal, always a brilliant actor, was outstanding in this movie. The subtleties of politics at that time, the characterization and the attention to minute details makes it a gripping movie from the start to the end. Yes, probably every aspect of Sardar's life was not covered but then it would be unrealistic to do so in a movie. The movie tries to portray the strong political will of the great man, especially during the biggest crisis state of Indian history, the partition, and succeeds in it. His quick decisiveness, his ability to convince Congress, his differences with Nehru on almost all major issues, are all lucidly elaborated and well executed. The movie game me goosebumps, that such a strong man indeed existed on Earth. Sardar Patel was responsible for shaping India as we currently know if. If only he was India's first Prime Minister (sigh). All in all, a must watch for all Indians, current politicians included!