Sardar Ka Grandson Review – A Story That Is All Heart

What Is the Story About?

Green Card holder and US citizen Amreek Singh (Arjun Kapoor) is grappling with a breakup with his fiancée (Rakul Preet Singh). His father (Kanwaljeet Singh) summons him to his hometown Amritsar, as his grandmother, Rupinder Kaur (Neena Gupta) doesn’t have long to live. The old lady, all of ninety, is the titular ‘Sardar’, btw. Grandson Amreek Singh promises to fulfil a long-held wish of his grandmother.

Does Amreek manage to fulfil Sardar’s wish? Or does he bungle yet again, as he’s been bungling all his life?

Sardar Ka Grandson is written by Anuja Chauhan and Kaashvie Nair. The latter has also helmed the film. Dialogues are by Amitosh Nagpal. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani, Nikkhil Advani and John Abraham under their banners T-Series, Emmay Entertainment and JA Entertainment.

Performances?

Neena Gupta’s performance is the mainstay of Sardar Ka Grandson. As Sardar, she is spunky and sprightly, vibrant and vivacious. She superbly portrays the gnarled old lady, bent at the waist, but refusing to bow down to the vagaries of her age. Arjun Kapoor, though pleasant enough to watch, needs to bring in more passion and emotion into his performance. In Sardar Ka Grandson, the character seems to be disembodied from the actor and vice versa, leaving one strangely unmoved and uninvested in Amreek Singh’s predicament. 

John Abraham delivers what is required of him in his cameo as Gursher Singh. Though, of the two cameo appearances, it is Aditi Rao Hydari who grabs attention. As young Rupinder Kaur, she is winsome, appealing and ethereally beautiful. 

Rakul Preet Singh is strictly passable. The support cast, made up of adept performers such as Kumud Mishra, Kanwaljeet Singh, Divya Seth and Soni Razdan, props up the story well.

Analysis

Netflix’s latest Bollywood acquisition, Sardar Ka Grandson, is a touching story of unbreakable bonds, familial love, and belief in one’s conviction to pull off what seems impossible. The premise is inventive, plucked from real life instances in different parts of the world, instances that made it to newspaper headlines and social media. 

However, taking an interesting headline and converting it into a script is one thing. Executing it in such a way that it leaves the viewer transfixed is another thing altogether. And that is where Sardar Ka Grandson falters majorly. The execution of the inventive idea leaves a lot to be desired. The writers and director take up so much of the runtime in story-building that they get very little time to devote to the actual pulling off of the difficult task; which, ideally, should have been the centrepiece of the film. 

The end feels rushed, as a result; and the storytelling seems too simplistic. The film fails to evoke a feeling of awe at crucial moments, and the pathbreaking moment feels like a normal occurrence in the ultimate course of things. A little more cinematic flourish and dramatic embellishing would have worked wonders in making Sardar Ka Grandson a more compelling story. Likewise, the scenes that depict Amreek Singh and his outrageous plan trending on social media are too dry and uninteresting to evince astonishment or wonderment. 

That aside, the film gets one thing right – the chemistry between Neena Gupta’s Sardar and Arjun Kapoor’s Amreek. It is cute, funny and heartwarming in turns. Neena Gupta skillfully holds the film together – her performance and characterisation will remind you of Rishi Kapoor’s turn in Kapoor And Sons. 

On the other hand, the chemistry between the lead pair of Rakul Preet Singh and Arjun Kapoor is a joke – it is practically non-existent, zilch. The romance between them seems forced and flavourless. You never feel invested in their romance or breakup or — sigh — their making up.

The humorous portions of the film are well written – they evince laughter and keep you engaged in Sardar’s shenanigans. There are a few half-hearted lift-offs from Akshay Kumar’s film ‘Patiala House’ – when the family wants to keep Amreek’s plan a secret from the social media savvy Sardar.  

In the end, Sardar Ka Grandson suffers for its simplistic and rushed storytelling. It is good as a one-time watch but nothing more than that. 

Music and Other Departments?

Tanishk Bagchi’s music is average. The songs are forgettable, though the Punjabi tracks are pleasing to the ear. The background score is mild and unintrusive. 

Mahendra Shetty’s cinematography, though not brilliant in any way, passes muster. One glaring drawback in the cinematography is that it fails to capture the essence of Pakistan, and even more conspicuously, of the Wagah Border. Maahir Zaveri’s editing is jarringly inconsistent in some sequences.

Highlights?

Drawbacks?

Lack of technical finesse 

Rushed ending 

Simplistic storytelling 

Lack of chemistry between lead pair

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes, mostly 

Will You Recommend It?

Yes, it is worth a one-time watch 

Sardar Ka Grandson Review by Binged Bureau