Ranbir Kapoor starrer Shamshera arrives on Prime Video without much fanfare

If a big star's movie arrives on a streaming platform without any fanfare or big announcement, more often than not you can take it that the film had under-performed at the box-office.

So it is with Shamshera, the Hindi movie starring Ranbir Kapoor, and also Sanjay Dutt as the main antagonist and Vaani Kapoor as the female lead.

The Karan Malhotra directed period movie is streaming on Amazon Prime Video from late last night (August 18), and is available in Tamil and Telugu, aside from its original Hindi version. The film's story, which takes place in the early 1800s, centres on a dacoit tribe that fights for independence from the British.

Shamshera and the unfortunate comparison with RRR and KGF2

Shamshera was a much-delayed movie as the pandemic had put paid to its release schedules. Originally planned to hit the theatres in late 2019, and then shifted to June  2021 and March 2022, the film eventually arrived in cinema halls on July 22, 2022. Technically, it is still running in theatres. The fact that it has started to stream even before the first one-month threshold is crossed speaks about its performance at the box-office.

The film also ran into some trouble post its release as writer Bikranjeet Singh Bhullar slapped a legal notice on YRF (Yash Raj Films) and others related to the film with an accusation of copying his story. There was a question mark over its OTT release. Apparently that legal hurdle has been hurdle as otherwise the movie couldn't have made to it to the streamer.

Shamshera, a big budget movie from producer Yash Raj Chopra, did not get either critic's praise or public's word of mouth appreciation. Ranbir Kapoor's double act couldn't save the film. One of its problems was the fact that the story outline is about a brave hero taking on the bad men of the British raj arrived just after RRR, which too had a tale that had a similar contour. But for a movie to match the grandeur and extravaganza of RRR is a near impossible task. 

Further, there is also a portion in Shamshera, which has parallels to another recent pan-Indian blockbuster KGF 2. (A large swathe of the fighting tribe are enslaved in chains. Treated worse than animals, they are imprisoned in a fort in fictitious Kaza. This harks back to KGF 2.) Again it is a high bar to get past. 

Shamshera fell short in comparison to these films, unfortunately. Who knows, if the film had arrived early as planned, it might not have tanked badly. Also, it might have made it to the OTT platform with more noise and verve.

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