Sultan [2016] {Movie Review}

Dir: Ali Abbas Zaffar
Starring: Salman Kahn, Anushka Sharma
Dur: 2 hrs  50 mins
Genre: Sports based film
Rating: 6.5/10

Love, sweat and dirt thrown around in the dust of a local wrestling arena; Sultan is the story of a small town Haryana, wrestler who climbed the ladder of achievement to win his girl’s heart. It’s romantic in its own way and warms the heart although its presentation may not appeal. Its success at the box office however, paints a different picture. Sultan has gone on to become the fourth highest grossing Indian film. This response does point to the success of the director to mix romance with a sports-based drama and to the good performances of the lead pair but it doesn’t tell you why you ought to watch this film. If you ask me I’ll tell you that if you don’t watch this film you aren’t missing much. It’s not great. It’s…. alright.

One reason why Salman’s films sell, as I’m given to understand, is because he shows off his hunky body and whacks the bad guys. Here too you are treated to more of the same besides being exposed to a number of other good and ugly physiques in a variety of grotesque postures. As expected, Sultan quickly rises to national and international fame despite being a nobody to begin with. Bollywood’s romantic dramas are a bit too cliché and they go out of their way to show the girl and boy falling in love. You think you’ll find anything different here? Don’t kid yourself.


We are treated to some desi wrestling as well as some mixed martial arts towards the end. Anushka too is shown in action and this for me was something exciting. The songs are great. Choreography is slack but the music is lovely and pleasant to the ears. I wanted to watch the film thinking it to be along the inspirational lines but it wasn’t to be. I was disappointed with the story as it failed to strike a chord at any level. 

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