Shamshera (2022)

Shamshera is the kind of old-school, big-canvas Bollywood adventure that swings for the fences: dust, steel, thunderous confrontations, and a rebellion story built to play on the largest screen you can find. Karan Malhotra stages the 1800s with muscular scale, and Ranbir Kapoor gives the film its pulse—switching from restless youth to mythic heir with the kind of movie-star presence that keeps you leaning in. Sanjay Dutt, meanwhile, looms like a walking curse as the enforcer determined to crush hope, turning every face-off into an event. It’s not a subtle film and it won’t be for viewers allergic to unabashed masala spectacle, but if you want a rousing, dramatic ride about dignity, freedom, and a legacy that refuses to die, this one delivers.

Shamshera is clearly aiming for a big, old-school Bollywood spectacle: a freedom-and-dignity saga with a larger-than-life hero, a nasty villain, and plenty of action in a period setting. The problem is the storytelling doesn’t land with the weight it wants—scenes often feel loud rather than gripping, and the emotional beats get buried under bombast and a screenplay that struggles to build momentum. At nearly every turn it feels longer than it needs to be, so what should be rousing can become exhausting if you’re not already invested in the template. If you enjoy Ranbir Kapoor in swaggering action mode and can ride with a very familiar, high-volume masala style, there are moments of scale and a solid antagonist presence from Sanjay Dutt—but if you need tight pacing and real dramatic punch, this likely won’t be your film.