Shershaah

Shershaah (transl. Lion-king) is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language biographical war drama film directed by Vishnuvardhan in his Hindi debut and written by Sandeep Shrivastava. Produced by Dharma Productions and Kaash Entertainment, the film stars Sidharth Malhotra in a dual role as Indian Army Captain Vikram Batra and his twin brother Vishal, alongside Kiara Advani as Dimple Cheema. The narrative follows Batra’s journey from a young cadet to a decorated officer in the Kargil War, culminating in his martyrdom during Operation Vijay in 1999.

Announced in May 2019, the film marked Vishnuvardhan's entry into Hindi cinema and Malhotra’s first dual-role performance. Principal photography began the same month and concluded in January 2020. Originally scheduled for theatrical release in July 2020, the film was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and premiered digitally on Amazon Prime Video on 12 August 2021.

Shershaah received largely positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, with particular praise for Malhotra and Advani’s performances, the direction, action sequences, cinematography, and music. The writing drew some criticism for its conventional treatment of the biographical genre. The film emerged as a major digital success and became the most-watched Indian film on Amazon Prime Video in India at the time of its release.

At the 67th Filmfare Awards, Shershaah led with 19 nominations, including Best Actor (Malhotra) and Best Actress (Advani), and won 7 awards—among them Best Film, Best Director (Vishnuvardhan), Best Music Director (Tanishk Bagchi, B Praak, Jasleen Royal, Javed-Mohsin and Vikram Montrose), and both Best Male Playback Singer (Praak for "Mann Bharrya") and Best Female Playback Singer (Asees Kaur for "Raatan Lambiyaan"). The film also won the Special Jury Award (Feature Film) at the 69th National Film Awards.