Vicky Kaushal’s Sam Bahadur Grabs the Spotlight: Find Out What Critics Are Saying and How it’s Rated

Directed by Meghna Gulzar, Sam Bahadur is a tribute to the Indian Army’s Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. Starring Vicky Kaushal in the lead role the movie alongside Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Neeraj Kabi, Edward Sonnenblick and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub. Sam Bahadur deep dives into the personal and professional life of Manekshaw. The film marks the second collaboration between Gulzar and Kaushal.

For the movie, Vicky had to go through extensive training in the army under the guidance of the Indian Army’s 6 Sikh Regiment in preparing for his role. Kaushal in an interview with a news source admitted before the shooting of the film that the character would be his toughest onscreen role to date. Meghna did not have junior artists and instead cast real-life army personnel and people from the Defence Force for the film.

In 2021, Sam Bahadur was announced by RSVP Movies on the 107th birth anniversary of the late Sam Manekshaw.

Box office collections

In terms of box office performance, Sam Bahadur movie faced tough competition from Animal upon its release on December 1, 2023. Despite a slow start, the film gained momentum with positive word of mouth. On the first day, it collected ₹6.25 crore, followed by ₹9 crore on the second day and ₹10.30 crore on the third day. As of January 5, 2024, the film had grossed ₹109.79 crore in India and ₹127.27 crore worldwide. The box office success, especially amidst challenging competition, highlighted the film’s resilience and growing popularity.

Critics review and ratings

Sam Bahadur was well received by the audience with an impressive IMDb rating of 8.2 out of 10.

Anuj Kumar of The Hindu praised Vicky Kaushal’s performance, stating, “When the screenplay falters, Vicky carries the weight to keep the mission on course. The film turns into a series of snapshots of Sam Bahadur’s accomplishments, accompanied by a rousing background score, but it has enough firepower to maintain our interest.”

Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express, noted, “Playing a character so closely without becoming a caricature is challenging, but Kaushal manages to embody Sam Bahadur effectively.”

Bollywood Hungama’s critic stated the movie is a well-intentioned biopic that showcases Vicky Kaushal in a unique light.

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV praised Vicky Kaushal’s dominant performance and acknowledged Meghna Gulzar’s balance between ambition and restraint, emphasizing that Kaushal’s spirited performance and the emotional payoff contribute to the film’s remarkable nature.

Catherine Bray from The Guardian commented on the film’s structure, describing it as episodic despite neat incidents and set-pieces. She pointed out the challenge faced by biopics in maintaining fictional momentum when dealing with factual events.

Movie Release

The biopic war drama was released in theaters on December 1, 2023. Since ZEE5 Global acquired the digital streaming rights to the movie, it is now set to premiere on January 26, 2024. (Available in selected countries) Viewers can sign up on ZEE5 Global and get access to the movie online. Not only that, you get complete access to the latest movies and explore more Vicky Kaushal movies available on the platform.