Sher Shivraj Movie Review
Cast- Chinmay Mandlekar, Mukesh Rishi, Mrinal Kulkarni, Digpal Lanjekar, Astad Kale, Vaibhav Mangle & others
Director- Digpal Lanjekar
Release date- 22nd April 2022
Popcorn score- 4 out of 10
What’s the basic storyline?
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has taken the control of Maval region, and now Adilshahi is infuriated and worried as the region is under their jurisdiction. In order to stop his force, the Adilshahi sultanate proclaims a challenge of catching Shivaji Maharaj and it’s accepted by none other than a renowned general of Bijapur, Afzalkhan.
Afzalkhan then plans to not catch but kill Shivaji Maharaj with his mind games. On the other hand, the great Maratha warrior has some brilliant strategies to deal with his enemy, leading to the battle of Pratapgarh.
Performances
Sher Shivraj is the fourth part of Digpal Lanjekar’s series of historical movies, and Chinmay Mandlekar has been playing the role of Shivaji Maharaj since the very first part. In this film too, Chinmay has acted really well by maintaining consistency. His mannerisms and screen presence are impactful.
Mukesh Rishi has been a powerful villain in a lot of Bollywood films. Unfortunately, despite his strong physique, he fails to make any impact as Afzhalkhan. Though bad writing could also be blamed here.
Mrinal Kulkarni as Rajmata Jijabai has acted really well with her powerful demeanour. Director Digpal Lanjekar too has acted in the film and does his job good but goes overboard at some points. Vaibhav Mangle and others do a decent job in their respective characters.
Screenplay, direction & other departments
Sher Shivraj is 2 hours and 33 minutes long in duration, and despite this decent length, there are plenty of yawn moments. The subject is good but loses track at several points. Unlike its predecessor Pawankhind, here songs look unconvincing and in fact, slow down the pace.
There are moments when you feel that the film will pick up the momentum, but sadly it doesn’t really happen.
Director Digpal Lanjekar looks in confusion here as he tries inserting too many emotional moments. They look forced and take the focus away from the actual Shivaji Maharaj vs Afzalkhan angle. We have witnessed many big directors and their vision for periodic dramas. In fact, even Lanjekar’s own Pawankhind look intriguing and visually grand but here, Sher Shivraj looks like any ordinary movie and hence, it fails to create that spark among the audience. Warfare scenes fall flat and look like they are shot in a rush.
Music is about average and no song really scores well. Background music is good in bits and pieces.
VFX work is very poor and you can really spot that the sword is created by using computer graphics. In fight scenes, you can see blood popping out of the body like a low-grade animated film. To say the least, the VFX department fails miserably.
On a conclusive note…
It’s really surprising to process the thought that both Pawankhind and Sher Shivraj are made by the same director. While the predecessor scored a big time with its cinematic brilliance, this one fails a big time due to the substance that keeps you hooked.
Also, read our review of KGF Chapter 2 by clicking here.
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