A incredible story not told well enough...
You can say 'this is better than most Bollywood' films made, and that this could be even considered to be a part of great Indian cinema films, But terrible pacing, lack to attention of detail and horrible convincing of time span make this movie a definite miss.
I can't comment of the characters itself since it is based on true events. I am not sure how Dalbir Kaur or Sabrjit were/are in real life. The acting was good, I don't think any actor over powered anyone else, each had their own strengths in the movie entirely. Pointing out that I personally enjoyed Randeep Hooda's and Aishwarya Rais acting. She may have been a bit dramatic at times for the sake of it but overall great performances.
Now in terms of direction....sigh It did not hit the mark. I only hope something went wrong where they had to resort to rushing certain story lines to add in two or three unnecessary songs. Look I get it, most Indian movies need a song for a break of drama or whatever...but a damn biopic DOES NOT NEED SONG NUMBERS!!!! Please future filmmakers, this is not a film to head to the cinema to enjoy songs and masti. This is a serious topic and should be told in a serious manner. Theres nothing wrong with having no songs. Infact your credibility as a artist is stronger in such dramatic films without them.
Details....ZEE NEWS logo
Oh my god. Why was the 2016 Zee logo present in news broadcasts of 1990's and early 2000's. There was a different logo for back then. How did they miss that! Such a terrible mistake. Also Shoes of 2014 models of Nike were present in the crowd years before the release. Hmm wonder why? Oh right probably no one looked twice.
Then comes the age of the characters...Sabrjit was convincing his weightloss and beard his teeth cheekbones all added up to a great old aged confined look. Could they not hire a proper make up artist for the ladies, you know to actually make them look old, make it look like their body had changed. I mean 20 years later and the wife still has a banging bod no wrinkles, the sister is still got wrinkle-free hands and neck. Her hair has remained beautifully full and thick with few strands of grey hair. Look at Paa where Amitabh Bachan had some good makeup done on him. The tools are present but no one wants to actually use them it seems. Now I am not saying that they can't have great bodies or thick hair even after they age, but the wrinkles thats something that makes the movie the time so so authentic. Its a beautiful visual to have.
The Pacing
The pacing was on and off. Towards the middle of the film felt the strongest (again no songs) I was engrossed in the film entirely worried and almost at the edge of my seat wondering what happened why isn't the government helping, I felt bad for the sister throughout. At times the film was super fast paced and then suddenly you were taken out of it with bizarre scene or couple of shots. With some song at the back.
The cinematography of Kiran Deohans was incredible. The shots were absolutely breathtaking and so beautifully composed. The color palette and the lighting to create the mood was spot on!!!
At the end of the day this is a tremendous true story told in a simple decent manner. What matters the most is this story being told, so please don't be offended by my thoughts or comments. 2016 a year where everyone gets butt hurt and critical (myself as well lol)) but in all honesty If little efforts were made to change the look of the wife and sister and small details like Zee tv for example were taken care of I am sure this would have probably ended up as one of the great of 2016 and the last 10 years, but unfortunately for me it didn't. Indian filmmakers have the tools and they have such incredible talent. This isn't mindless cinema kinda film, this is a serious drama film. There are such amazing drama films of true stories or events done so beautifully in India, hundreds of them. But where Sarbjit lacked in delivering the right focus of authenticity, it gained in highlighting a sad truth of the careless government and the conflicts of hundreds of families dealing with the border crisis of India and Pakistan. Only hope for more movies to be made on such topics and such issues to educate people and not separate or spread anymore propaganda hate.