Analysis:
Ali Abbas Zafar may have worked/made box-office duds in the past but he’s a winner now – not just because he has made a film with Salman Khan but he made ‘Sultan’. Any film is a true winner when it works for the viewer and Sultan works big time. Surprisingly, you will not see Superstar Salman Khan in the film but only Sultan..Sultan and Sultan.
‘Sultan’ is the tale of a happy-go-lucky guy in Haryana who is initially ‘nothing’ but turns ‘something’ when life challenges him (in the form of his lady love Aarfa). The same ‘something’ eventually turns nothing chasing his dreams. But as they say, it is not about falling down, it is about standing up again. How did the ‘nothing’ Sultan emerge a triumphant ‘something’ is what Zafar tries to tell us.
The merit of young Ali Abbas Zafar becomes evident in telling this story in the most engrossing and heartening way possible with the right cinematic effect. His narrative just sails off swiftly with the quintessential highs and lows entertaining us through out. And that’s why it works for us!
He pitches his plot with the ‘running down wrestling league’ and introduces veteran Sultan. Zafar then walks us down with Sultan’s turbulent past and hooks us with an emotional interval block. Zafar once again displays his wit by crafting an engaging second half that is rid of melodrama yet emotional enough. Zafar dealt the script so maturely delivering the essence of love, life, success-failure, despair-hope with brilliance.
But if this ordinary story is any tugging, it is because of the performances, dialogues and then the narrative. Especially one-liners like “Manne Pehlwan Zarror Chodi Hai..Par Ladna Nahin Bula” instantly strikes a chord and you have plenty of them in the film.
However, Salman-Anushka pair and onscreen chemistry is relatively not so adorable. Keeping aside the predictability, the second half could be a bit pacy and the reasoning behind some conflict points is not so convincing.
On a whole, Sultan remains to be a must watch entertainer for this Eid.
Music: