Sardar Ka Grandson

Cast: Neena Gupta, Arjun Kapoor, Rakul Preet, John Abraham, Aditi Rao Hydari

Director: Kaashvie Nair

First thing first—Sardar Ka Grandson has nothing to do with Son of Sardar, they are different films.

This one is set in and around Amritsar occasionally drifting inside Pakistan. Amreek Singh (Arjun Kapoor) is a goofy, happy go lucky kind of a guy doing odd jobs for a company run by his girlfriend Radha (Rakul Preet) in Los Angeles. His grandmother, who everybody fondly calls Sardar (Neena Gupta), is a 90-year-old loud and boisterous industrialist. She has been a victim of the India-Pakistan partition and wants to see the house she built with her husband in Lahore for one last time. So, what’s the big deal? Well, the Pakistan government has blacklisted her for an angry outburst at a cricket match in Mohali against a senior official from the neighbouring country. She can’t go to the house but the house can come to her. Amreek has now taken it upon himself to bring the same house from Pakistan to Amritsar for Sardar.

The basic premise is definitely absurd but it also intrigues. On paper, it might have sounded easy to change the phrase homecoming to ‘home is coming’, but it’s much more than just an idea. It can fall flat if not done convincingly. Also, it’s tricky to shoot films with many crowd scenes. It can go both ways. You have to manage the sentiments despite quick transitions.

To the director’s credit, Sardar Ka Grandson works because of its core idea but then the actors fail the project. It’s heartening to see Kaashvie Nair attempting something as audacious as uprooting a house and then re-planting it in Amritsar, but the scenes demand more urgency from the actors. Most of the times, they look relaxed and don’t convey the earnestness the situation merits.

They also remain short of establishing a delectable chaos inside Sardar’s house. I am not even talking about the fun quotient here, which is mostly missing.

Neena Gupta and Arjun Kapoor try to shoulder the responsibility but couldn’t do so for a longer period. It needed more secondary characters to rise up and take guard. With De De Pyaar De, Rakul Preet has proved that she could be quite handy in situational comedies, but she has been grossly underutilised.

John Abraham and Aditi Rao Hydari’s cameos could have been extended. They look more in charge of the developments than the lead pair. Hydari, in particular, has evolved a lot in recent times, and this is another good performance from her.

At 139-minutes, Sardar Ka Grandson feels like a stretch, but you can always watch it for Neena Gupta and the audacity of the idea.

Arjun Kapoor describes his Sardar Ka Grandson character, Amreek Singh, as a ‘mumbling-jumbling idiot

In Sardar Ka Grandson, Arjun Kapoor is playing Amreek Singh who wants to bring an old house from Pakistan to Amritsar to fulfil his grandmother’s last wish. He says that the role interested him because of its absurdity.

Arjun says, “Sometimes, somebody tells you something so bizarre that you are interested in hearing the concept. How have they written it? I thought it’s not possible but let me hear it. By the end of it, after I went through the process, I stopped doubting anything. It has got a very nice fairytale quality. You always wish somebody to go to this extent to make dreams realise.

He continues, “It was a role which had certain overlaps with my kind of humour, tongue in cheek, one liners, making people smile, having an opinion about everything and you know, being a bit of over-smart buffoon. He might think highly of himself but in reality, he is a mumbling-jumbling idiot who doesn’t know where he is going or coming from.”

I am sure I have been through such phases in my life where I was a bit like that. I think I still have that thing somewhere in my subconscious but yes, it’s always fun to play relatable and believable characters. It was a nicely written character and there are many boys like Amreek who can’t handle their personal relationship with their girlfriends but then they go to any extent for their families,” adds Arjun.

He goes on, “In a way, Sardar Ka Grandson starts from where most films end. The romance is over and the guy is in a situation where he puts his grandmother’s lovestory on priority. There are people who would take their partner for granted but would go to any extent for strangers.

According to the latest report on Boxofficeindia.com, the Salman Khan starrer has raked in nearly USD 1.3 million overseas in two days.

Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai couldn’t get a wide opening in Indian theatres, but the film has been entertaining fans in cinemas overseas. According to the latest report on Boxofficeindia.com, the Salman Khan starrer has raked in around USD 600k on its second day, taking its total overseas collection to nearly USD 1.27 million (Rs 9.3 Crore approx) in two days. The action entertainer is said to be getting a good boost from the Gulf, where it garnered USD 475k on day one and around USD 400k on day two.

With these figures, ‘Radhe’ is expected to cross the $1 million mark for the weekend in the Gulf. Interestingly, his 2019 film ‘Bharat’ had crossed this figure in one day, but the market was not affected by the pandemic at the time. Going by the present momentum, ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ is expected to cross the USD 2 million mark at the end of its four-day weekend.

The film is being watched widely on the pay-per-view format in India. Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is said to have become the most watched film on Day 1, garnering 4.2 million views across various platforms. In India, the film released on ZEE5 with ZEE’s pay per view service ZEEPlex; along with leading DTH operators and it released theatrically in international markets on May 13. Fans of the superstar made it the most-watched movie on the first day itself, sending the servers crashing. Salman took to Twitter to wish fans on Eid and for watching Radhe.

Salman Khan’s Eid release Radhe is said to have created history by garnering 4.2 million views across various platforms on first day of release in India.

Salman Khan’s Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is said to have become the most watched film on Day 1, garnering 4.2 million views across various platforms. In India, the film released on ZEE5 with ZEE’s pay per view service ZEEPlex; along with leading DTH operators and it released theatrically in international markets on May 13. Fans of the superstar made it the most-watched movie on the first day itself, sending the servers crashing. Salman took to Twitter to wish fans on Eid and for watching Radhe.

In the UAE, on its opening day with theatre capacities running at 50%, the film is said to have collected USD 379,000, which is not only higher than Salman Khan’s last film Dabbang 3 (2019) but also a higher opening day collection than Godzilla vs. Kong.

Radhe also demonstrates the success of a hybrid release and shows an effective model of releasing a film during these tough times. This would be important not just to the stakeholders of Radhe but to the entire film industry of the country that is reeling under the impact of the pandemic.

Shariq Patel, CBO – Zee Studios, said, “The film has won over audiences and through this unique and never-seen-before distribution strategy we could ensure the widest possible ‘opportunity to see’ this high-on-entertainment, quintessential Salman Khan movie at a place and time of audiences’ choice. With unprecedented circumstances comes the responsibility to make innovative choices that will pave the way for future business models and Zee is at the forefront of it.

Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ will be the first big-scale entertainment film of Bollywood that will have a multi-format release on May 13.

Actor Salman Khan’s Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is slated for a theatrical release worldwide on Thursday (May 13), adhering to the Covid-19 protocol issued by the government. However, the tent-pole film is opening at a time when India is going through an extreme crisis and most producers have pushed back their releases.

Salman’s fans are much excited about the movie which was due to release on Eid last year but was pushed owing to the pandemic and cinema closures. Finally, this year the movie is getting released but fans are worried about how to watch it since most cinemas across the country are non-functional owing to the pandemic. In cities where there is no lockdown, many still want to stay home during this testing time.

But fret not! Looks like one of the most loved actors also thinks about the health and safety of his fans and so he has planned the release of the film on digital platforms too.

Those interested in the movie can watch it on ZEE5 with ZEE’s pay-per-view service, ZEEPlex. Those using DTH platforms like Dish, D2H, Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TVcan also avail the service of ZeePlex at a price of Rs 249. Using ZeePlex, a user can book and watch the first day of the show from the comfort of their homes.

Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai will be the first big-scale entertainment film from the country that will have a multi-format release. In a recent interaction, Salman too said he would not encourage theatre owners to screen his upcoming film as he does not want people to say that they got infected with the virus when they went to watch the movie. He added that he is even incurring losses because of the nearly non-existent theatrical release of the film in India.