Sarzameen Review: Ibrahim Ali Khan Redeems Himself In Shakti Meets Mission Kashmir Melodrama

Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh’s son Ibrahim Ali Khan returns with his second film, Sarzameen, co-starring Kajol and Prithviraj Sukumaran. It marks the directorial debut of Boman Irani’s son Kayoze Irani. Read MensXP’s review of Sarzameen below. 

Sarzameen Movie Review

After watching the film’s trailer, I found it to be quite similar to Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan and Jackie Shroff’s Mission Kashmir. 

It was only after watching the film, I realised that Sarzameen doesn’t only take heavy inspirations from Mission Kashmir but also Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan’s Shakti. 

Long story short, Sarzameen is Shakti meets Mission Kashmir with a pinch of Vijay starrer The Greatest of All Time. 

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However, while Shakti is a well-made film with strong performances, direction and screenplay and so was Mission Kashmir to an extent, Sarzameen is a hit and miss both in terms of writing and execution. 

Kayoze Irani, as a director, makes a decent debut but there are a lot of scenes where his inexperience behind the camera is visible. 

Also, the writing is quite weak as the screenplay barely fleshes out Kajol’s chemistry with Prithviraj Sukumaran or her equation with her son, played by Ibrahim Ali Khan. 

For a film that was promoted a lot on a mother’s love for her son, you don’t really feel any connection between the two. In fact, Kajol and Ibrahim barely have any scenes together. 

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Despite all its flaws, the film somehow manages to keep you engaged partly for its performance, partly because of the story and partially due to Kayoze Irani’s direction. 

The music of the film is good and so is the cinematography. 

Sarzameen Movie Cast Performances

Kajol nails the emotional scenes but somehow felt miscast in the role especially towards the end. Overall, it was a decent performance. 

Prithviraj Sukumaran is the best thing in the film and delivers a solid performance. If only he were supported by strong writing. 

Ibrahim Ali Khan, who was brutally trolled for his terrible performance in the abomination that was Naadaniyan, redeems himself here as an actor. Sarzameen gives him a lot of scope to perform and while he was still rough around the corners in some scenes, he overall delivered a surprisingly understated performance. 

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Sarzameen Final Verdict

Overall, Sarzameen is a highly melodramatic mix of Shakti and Mission Kashmir. With a solid performance from Prithviraj Sukumar and a decent one from Ibrahim Ali Khan, the film makes for a decent but forgettable watch. 

Rating: 2.5/5