Sarbit, based on the story of a man incarcerated in a Pakistani jail for over two decads, while his sister fought a dogged battle for hos release, opts for high-pitched saccharine-laden meladrama: the star is equally high pitched, leaving the actor to bring up the rear.
Sarbjit story has been well-documented. He lived with his family-old father, wife sukh, and fiercely loyal sister Dalbir in a Punjab village close to the indo-pak border. He stayed over the line one night, and was nobbed by the Pakistani patrol. That’s when his ordeal started-thrown in a box for months, limbs contorted, hung upside down and flayed till bloody, till he was forced into a false confession, and jailed.
The devastated Dalbir, ever protective about her’bhai’, takes up cudgels on his behalf. And she keeps going through the long and hard grind: her appeals to officials on deaf ears, with only a few light-in-the-tunnel moments.
I did tear up a couple of times, but only for sarbjit. Randdep Hooda is mostly shown inside his dark, fetid cell, his hair filthy, his hands letting. He nails the look and the accent letting neither overpower him, and is the only reason to sit through this sagging saga.