Sidharth Malhotra stars in a dual role as Vikram Batra and his twin brother Vishal, with Kiara Advani as his girlfriend Dimple Cheema.
The performances (especially Malhotra's and Advani's), direction, music, cinematography, action sequences, editing, and visual effects received high critical acclaim.
[7][8] Shershaah led the 67th Filmfare Awards with 19 nominations, including Best Actor (Malhotra) and Best Actress (Advani), and won 7 awards including Best Film, Best Director (Vishnuvardhan), Best Music Director (Tanishk Bagchi, B Praak, Jasleen Royal, Javed-Mohsin and Vikram Montrose), Best Male Playback Singer (Praak for "Mann Bharrya") and Best Female Playback Singer (Asees Kaur for "Raatan Lambiyaan").
The young Vikram is playing cricket when he gets into a fight with elder teenage kids over a ball, revealing the fearless nature he later became known for.
Vikram, watching the TV series Param Vir Chakra used to talk about his wish to join the Indian Army.
He cracks CDS (Combined Defence Services) after completing his master's degree and joins the Indian Army.
As news about a potential war gains traction, Vikram decides to cut short his vacation and return.
He makes promise to his friend Sunny "I'll either come back after raising the Indian flag in victory or return wrapped in it.
The base comes under artillery fire that results in multiple casualties, including Vikram's senior, Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia.
Vikram adopts the codename Shershaah and victory signal Yeh Dil Maange More, for radio communication.
Jimmy and Vikram lead their companies and recapture Point 5140 without casualties, garnering praise in the army and public.
Following their impressive victory, the Army Command tasks 13 JAK Rif with capturing Point 4875 which overlooks National Highway 1 and would figuratively end the war.
They begin the assault on Point 4875 the next day, but take heavy casualties due to rough terrain and multiple enemy bunkers.
Vikram runs across open ground to rescue him and does so successfully but is hit multiple times by both sniper and AK-47 rounds.
[16] The film was officially announced on 2 May 2019, with the title confirmed and shooting locations to be Chandigarh, Palampur, Kangra, Kargil, Ladakh and Kashmir Valley.
The soundtrack remains the only work that does not feature the collaboration between Vishnuvardhan and Yuvan Shankar Raja, who had been his norm composer in all his previous films.
[27] Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost gave the film 2.75 stars out 5 opining "Captain Vikram Batra biopic is gripping as an Army procedural", noting it as Malhotra's best performance since Kapoor and Sons, and that "VishnuVardhan could not have found a more suitable mainstream star to join him in memorialising one of India's favorite war heroes.
"[28] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 2.5 stars by saying Malhotra "has what it takes to portray Batra with efficiency."
[31] Writing for Hindustan Times, Rohan Nahaar praised the screenplay but criticised the direction stating that the "smartly choreographed action, a reverent tone, and Sidharth Malhotra's sincere performance can't make up for Vishnuvardhan's uneven direction".
The depiction of Batra filling Cheema's hair parting with his blood (a Hindu marriage ritual) was also confirmed by her in the same interview.
[40] The film shows Batra telling his friend, "I'll either come back after raising the Indian flag in victory or return wrapped in it.
[48][49][50][51][52] Unlike the film, Batra died instantly after being hit by the sniper and did not live to see his men capture the point.