Shershaah is a Hindi-language movie released in August 2021. It’s based on the TRUE story of Captain Vikram Batra who fought courageously in the 1999 Kargil War for India.

The beauty of this film is that there is no “extraness.” It’s all true (including the romantic scenes)! The film also does not preach intense patriotism as if they’re forcing it on us, which I appreciated as many films about soldiers and wars tend to always sideline to that idea instead of focusing on the courage and valor of the soldiers.

I watched this film a couple weeks ago and I’m still getting goosebumps and palpitations thinking about it, which is incredibly unusual for me. It’s the fact that it was a true story based on a real-life person with such an incredible personality that left me with a lasting impact. I felt so empowered and simultaneously felt so much love, anger, and sadness throughout the course of this 2 hour film. The movie did a phenomenal job of showing us that soldiers have families and loved ones, who they leave behind to fight daily to protect every single person in their nation.

Tears just bursted out of my eyes when they ended the movie with this dialogue:

The song below has been throwing me off so much as well. I’ve been listening to it on repeat during my car rides or walks because of how bittersweet the lyrics are. The lyrics essentially translate to “When you’ve finally gotten to be with the love of your life, how do you say goodbye so soon? How do you tell him just to stay a little while longer, especially if he’s leaving for a long time to serve the nation?”

It does not matter if you don’t know the language, but I highly recommend every single person watches this film. It has made me appreciate life a bit more and understand that we have an immense responsibility to better the nation because millions of soldiers are risking their lives every day to protect us.