#REVIEW: Sher-E-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh is a larger than life visual EXTRAVAGANT SPECTACLE!

Produced By: Contiloe Productions

Cast: Shaleen Bhanot, Sneha Wagh, Sonia Singh, Rumi Khan, Damanpreet Singh among others.

Story So Far:

The story of Maharaja Ranjit Singh takes us back to the year 1780 when India was known as the 'Sone Ki Chidiya' or the Golden Bird, and was at the same time being bombarded by bombs and burglars. The voice over tells the backdrop of the troubled times that Punjab faced, with the Britishers invading us from the sea side and the Afghanis attacking us from the north and also the internal conflicts that Punjab was facing.

Mahaan Singh, his wife Raj Kaur, his brother Gurubaksh and his wife Sada Kaur are introduced in the first episode. Gurubaksh's wife is insecure of Mahaan Singh and the hold that he has on everyone including her husband. When the celebration for Raj Kaur and her unborn child are going on, one of Mahaan's close aids walks in in an injured state. He then tells Mahaan that Pir Muhammad has slaughtered his whole village, which angers Mahaan Singh and he decides to fight Pir Muhammad. He sends out a cry for help to all other sikhs in Punjab, but after a battle of egos, none of the others agree to stand by Mahaan so he and his brother Gurubaksh, decide to fight Pir on their own.

In the second episode, the viewers are treated to the cruelty that Pir Muhammad is. Pir imprisons a sharp shooter who kills his army men. To punish him, Pir's son puts snake poison into the shooter's eyes so that he goes blind. Mahaan Singh goes to a temple to clear his thoughts and prepare for the impending battle. On the other hand, one of the Sikhs who refused to help Mahaan Singh, tortures his wife who is also Mahaan Singh's sister and insults Mahaan. Raj Kaur encourages her husband Mahaan to fight valiantly for the protection of Punjab. She also assures him that if at all he dies at the battle, she will make sure that their son gets the kind of upbringing that Mahaan would have given. Pir and Mahaan meet each other on the battlefield and after a fiery exchange of words prepare their respective army for the battle.

At the palace, Raj Kaur's labour pain begins and on the other hand, Mahaan Singh and Gurubaksh begin the battle after having encouraged their respective army men. And the first batch of Pir's soldiers are smartly killed by Mahaan and Gurubaksh's army. But Pir brings out his tanks, which kill a majority of the Sikh army. At the palace, a trusted aide of Mahaan Singh Lakhpatrai, asks to take Raj Kaur to a safe place, but she refuses to budge. On the battlefield, Mahaan and Gurubaksh along with three others, decide to take over the tanker and use Pir's weapon on him only. And as unrealistic as it sounds, a tornado helps these five men reach the tanker and they successfully thwart off Pir's army and kill him. At that very moment, Raj Kaur gives birth to a son.

The army returns to the palace and Raj Kaur welcomes them, with her son in hand. Mahaan credits his victory to his son and names him Ranjit Singh. A leap of 5 years is shown where Punjab is reeling under the epidemic of chicken-pox. At the school, Ranjit Singh takes away all the desks so that he can pluck fruits for an old hungry lady. And instead of punishing him, the teacher praises him and this angers Gulaab Singh (Mahaan's sister's son). Ranjit goes back to the palace and is determined to help cook for the langar being organised in the palace, as he feels that it is a huge service. By then, Mahaan gets the news that his fellow state Bhaag Singh's territory has been struck by Chicken pox and decides to go and help them.

Gurubaksh too decides to go along with Mahaan against his wife Sada Kaur's wishes because she feels that her husband does not get the due credit he deserves. She plots and tells her husband that their daughter Mehtab is also unwell and successfully stops him from going. While Raj is bathing Ranjit, she sees bruises on his back and he tells her that he fell while helping an old lady who was hungry.

Bhaag Singh asks for help but no one apart from Mahaan Singh lends a helping hand. Rajnit is learning about the Guru Granth Sahib from his grandmother. She teaches him that helping the needy is the biggest form of duty. Ranjit soon gets called out by Gulaab Singh for an archery competition, where Ranjit wins because of his sheer determination. In the meanwhile, Mahaan gets to know that the disease has befallen his state, when the woman that Ranjit earlier helped comes to the palace asking for help. But she dies due to the very same epidemic, after which Mahaan goes out to help the people. Inspired by this and the teachings of his grandmother, Ranjit too goes to help the common people. Mahaan returns but is saddened by the death of his people. By then he and Raj Kaur get the news of Ranjit gone missing.

Will Ranjit too fall victim to the fatal epidemic?

What We Liked:

As captivating as the story is, the actors too do complete justice to their respective characters. The casting department has done a bang on job, we must say. Right from the central characters to even the other sardars, every character been perfectly cast.

A special mention to Akashdeep Saigal, who played Pir Muhammad in the show. What a comeback, we must say!

The show is being shot in exotic locales and almost every scene has a breath taking view of the surroundings. 

But what really impressed us is the technical aspect of the show.

The VFX right from the start of the first episode is splendid. And the magic continues till the fifth episode atleast. The animation, the voice-over and the background score that have been used to describe the storyline, only add on to the already visual appeal that Sher-E-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh' is.

What we did not like:

There was this elaborate song sequence in the first episode, which we thought was unnecessary. We get the whole commercialization point but Historic shows of this stature should certainly refrain from such temptations.

Apart from this point, there is nothing that did not impress us so far in the show. No facts as such have been distorted or misrepresented so far and the pace of the show is perfect. We just hope that the makers  continue to do so and not get carried away with the TRP game.  

Verdict:

Sher-E-Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh is probably Life OK's best historical offering. One may be missing something if they have not watched the show.

Ratings: **** (4 stars)