Cast: Salman Khan, Anushka Sharma, Suzi Khan, Randeep Hooda, Amith Sadh, Tyroon Woodley

Banner: Yash Raj Films

Music: Vishal-Shekar

Cinematographer: Artur Zurawski

Screenplay: Aditya Chopra

Producer: Aditya Chopra

Writer-Director: Ali Abbas Zafar

Engrossing, emotional and indeed kicking - A must watch!

Plot:

Aakash Oberoi (Amith Sadh) is the owner of Pro-Take Down wrestling league. While the league is running down on losses, Aakash is left with just 6 months to keep the league franchise and his belief in the sport alive. That is when he meets a veteran desi wrestling champion named Sultan Ali Khan aka Sultan (Salman Khan). In the course of his journey, Sultan becomes the King of the Ring but loses in the game of life, abandoned by his wife Aarfa (Anushka Sharma), family and friends. He is a loser and alone now collecting donations for a blood bank on the name of his dead son. So how did losers Aakash and Sultan revive the league and set up blood bank making a comeback in life as true champs forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Salman Khan: This is certainly a remarkable film in his career. Trust us, he delivers an absolute stellar in the film and his performance in couple of scenes can actually give you tears and Goosebumps too.

Anushka Sharma: If you think it is a one MAN show, no it is not! She plays an inspirational role named ‘Aarfa’, the lady love, wife and even mother of Sultan. Her character was equally significant and Anushka doesn’t let Salman steal the show.

Amith Sadh, Randeep Hooda & other lead cast including the wrestlers shine in their respective roles.

Analysis:

Ali Abbas Zafar may have worked/made box-office duds in the past but he’s a winner now – not just because he has made a film with Salman Khan but he made ‘Sultan’. Any film is a true winner when it works for the viewer and Sultan works big time. Surprisingly, you will not see Superstar Salman Khan in the film but only Sultan..Sultan and Sultan.

‘Sultan’ is the tale of a happy-go-lucky guy in Haryana who is initially ‘nothing’ but turns ‘something’ when life challenges him (in the form of his lady love Aarfa). The same ‘something’ eventually turns nothing chasing his dreams. But as they say, it is not about falling down, it is about standing up again. How did the ‘nothing’ Sultan emerge a triumphant ‘something’ is what Zafar tries to tell us.

The merit of young Ali Abbas Zafar becomes evident in telling this story in the most engrossing and heartening way possible with the right cinematic effect. His narrative just sails off swiftly with the quintessential highs and lows entertaining us through out. And that’s why it works for us!

He pitches his plot with the ‘running down wrestling league’ and introduces veteran Sultan. Zafar then walks us down with Sultan’s turbulent past and hooks us with an emotional interval block. Zafar once again displays his wit by crafting an engaging second half that is rid of melodrama yet emotional enough. Zafar dealt the script so maturely delivering the essence of love, life, success-failure, despair-hope with brilliance.

But if this ordinary story is any tugging, it is because of the performances, dialogues and then the narrative. Especially one-liners like “Manne Pehlwan Zarror Chodi Hai..Par Ladna Nahin Bula” instantly strikes a chord and you have plenty of them in the film.

However, Salman-Anushka pair and onscreen chemistry is relatively not so adorable. Keeping aside the predictability, the second half could be a bit pacy and the reasoning behind some conflict points is not so convincing.

On a whole, Sultan remains to be a must watch entertainer for this Eid.

Music:

Music by Vishal-Shekar meets the needs of the script very well and songs are indeed situational. And the back ground score especially ‘Re Sultan..’ theme is absolutely brilliant pumping life into the narrative.

Others:

Nonetheless to say the Production design is exceptional.

Verdict:

Sultan is a well made film – engrossing, emotional and indeed kicking too! This time you can go to the theatres not only for Salman but for the film as well.

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