Review of Sultan (2016) by Raisedbywolves — 23 Jul 2016

SULTAN is a bit like the original ROCKY. Sultan is a powerful wrestler who takes on 10 opponents, 1 at a time in an outdoor arena in India. He is seldom challenged as he slams them to ground where they fail to get up.

Sultan is however an unhappy fella because his true love for an unknown reason won't even acknowledge his existence. Then we return to the past which encompasses the first half of the film. Sultan is carefree and with his father trying to expand their cable TV business, when he meets a woman Aarfa,who stands up to him, and he realizes he must marry her.

She will have nothing to do with him, for he is nobody and she is attempting to win a gold medal at the Olympics, with the help of her father who runs a wrestling school. She practices wrestling men. So his only recourse is to join the school, learn the sport, and also win a gold medal.

This being a Bollywood film there is a lot of singing and dancing, which was great. After they marry Sultan goes on to win the gold, but Aarfa becomes pregnant and misses out. Their relationship hits the skids as his ego balloons.

Now back to the present: Several years later a competition called Pro Takedown is trying to become a viable sport in India, but all the fighters are foreign and the fans have no homer to cheer for. Sultan is recruited to fight, but this is mixed martial arts, without rules and he must now learn a new sport from the beginning.

An 8 min. intermission splits the film's past and present, but I needed no loo break, and was eager to see more. Great performances all round from a solid director.