It’s not often that a film infuriates you the way Sarzameen does. An outright bad film with bad acting is easy to hate watch. Sarzameen, however, draws you in with the promise of something bigger. Until you reach the end, furious at the missed opportunities but still hoping for a climax that makes it all worth it, and realise that you have been let down. Directed by Kayoze Irani and starring Kajol, Ibrahim Ali Khan, and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead, Sarzameen is streaming now. Here is our review of Sarzameen.

Sarzameen: The plot

Vijay Menon (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is a tough fauji who can’t get past his own traumatic childhood with his father who was also in the Army. As a child, Vijay was taunted for being too weak for the Army. Now, as a father, he lands up inflicting the same kind of parenting on his own son, Harman, whose speech impediment is a source of embarrassment for the accomplished colonel.

Meher Menon (Kajol), Vijay’s wife, is caught in the middle of a father-son relationship that is tense from the beginning. While she tries to make her husband understand the error of his ways, Meher also tries her best to comfort her child.

Vijay is posted in Kashmir and is tasked with finding an elusive terror mastermind named Mohsin. After he captures two terrorists in an operation, Vijay’s son Harman is kidnapped and his family gets caught in the turmoil. Meher implores her husband to act like a father and give in to the terrorists’ demands. But predictably, at the last minute, Vijay acts like a patriotic soldier for whom the nation comes first, even before his own son. This arc of the storyline gives Kajol room to really shine as a woman battling her two personas of mother and army wife. However, when the whole aftermath sequence is rushed, you know something is missing.

Harman (Ibrahim Ali Khan) shows up eight years later, as a grown, muscular man with only a faint stammer. His mother accepts him immediately but his father has reservations, thinking his son has changed beyond recognition in eight years. The whole film feels sped up but this part of the film especially feels devoid of the emotion warranted for circumstances so trying. The sloppy writing starts becoming more and more obvious from this point. And jarring background music that is far too loud and intrusive doesn’t help.

Sarzameen review: A story of lost potential

Ibrahim Ali Khan proves that casting him in the layered role of Harman was the right call. He balances the innocence and confusion of a misguided boy and the menacing terror of a young man trained in combat well. Ibrahim Ali Khan has well and truly left the follies of Nadaaniyan behind.

Sarzameen is Kajol and Ibrahim Ali Khan’s show throughout with Prithviraj Sukumaran’s support. If only the story had been better written and the background music had been given a break now and then. The climax of Sarzameen had so much potential especially with its unpredictable twist. What could have been a legendary tearjerker of an ending between father, son, mother, and ideology is sabotaged by the sudden onslaught of high-pitched vocals and unnecessary guitar strings.

Is Sarzameen worth watching?

Yes, if you want to see the evolution of Ibrahim Ali Khan from his debut to now. If this is going to be his trajectory, we can only hope for good things ahead. Kajol had so much more to show as Meher Menon. However, it almost seems as if her scenes were cut in the edit. Even then, Kajol manages to shine in her time on the screen. But if you’re a fan of her work, this is another reason Sarzameen will annoy you.

Sarzameen is streaming now on JioHotstar.

Can you watch Sarzameen with family? Yes, if you can stomach bloody violence.