Major review – Bollywood burnishes an Indian military legend in high style | Film

As unstintingly jingoistic as it is relentlessly entertaining, this Bollywood blockbuster celebrates a fictionalised version of the life and – as most of its audience will already know – death of heroic soldier Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was killed fighting terrorists during the 2008 siege at Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai.

Sandeep’s story is already the stuff of legend, so this lavish production goes all-out with all the hagiographic bells and whistles, turning him into a noble, fearless warrior (played by Adivi Sesh, also the film’s screenwriter). Sesh and director Sashi Kiran Tikka turn Sandeep into a very old-school sort of hero: part godlike being, part 1980s-style Hollywood action man, capable of hitting a target with a semi-automatic while sliding for metres on his knees, in slow-motion no less. He also possesses an unswerving moral compass that makes him a natural leader and compels him to honour his duty as a soldier above all else, even if that means neglecting his beautiful architect wife Isha (Saiee Manjrekar, utterly magnetic) and sometimes failing to return calls from his parents (Prakash Raj, Revathi).

The first, more fictional part covers Sandeep and Isha’s courtship in some detail, climaxing with a no-cliche-left-unused kiss-in-the-rain declaration of love. That strand of the story is crosscut with lots and lots of montages showing how quickly Sandeep rises up the ranks thanks to his natural proficiency until he becomes a training officer for the elite 51 Special Action Group in the National Security Guards. When the dastardly terrorists attack in Mumbai, he shouldn’t have been among the soldiers who went in to save the hostages and fight back, but he insisted on going. The producers have clearly paid up for the extras, sets and visual effects making this a lavish work, never dull for a second of its ample running time – even if some viewers may find the sentimentality a little hard to digest.

As unstintingly jingoistic as it is relentlessly entertaining, this Bollywood blockbuster celebrates a fictionalised version of the life and – as most of its audience will already know – death of heroic soldier Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was killed fighting terrorists during the 2008 siege at Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai.

Sandeep’s story is already the stuff of legend, so this lavish production goes all-out with all the hagiographic bells and whistles, turning him into a noble, fearless warrior (played by Adivi Sesh, also the film’s screenwriter). Sesh and director Sashi Kiran Tikka turn Sandeep into a very old-school sort of hero: part godlike being, part 1980s-style Hollywood action man, capable of hitting a target with a semi-automatic while sliding for metres on his knees, in slow-motion no less. He also possesses an unswerving moral compass that makes him a natural leader and compels him to honour his duty as a soldier above all else, even if that means neglecting his beautiful architect wife Isha (Saiee Manjrekar, utterly magnetic) and sometimes failing to return calls from his parents (Prakash Raj, Revathi).

The first, more fictional part covers Sandeep and Isha’s courtship in some detail, climaxing with a no-cliche-left-unused kiss-in-the-rain declaration of love. That strand of the story is crosscut with lots and lots of montages showing how quickly Sandeep rises up the ranks thanks to his natural proficiency until he becomes a training officer for the elite 51 Special Action Group in the National Security Guards. When the dastardly terrorists attack in Mumbai, he shouldn’t have been among the soldiers who went in to save the hostages and fight back, but he insisted on going. The producers have clearly paid up for the extras, sets and visual effects making this a lavish work, never dull for a second of its ample running time – even if some viewers may find the sentimentality a little hard to digest.