Sloppy, painful act by Sara Ali Khan, Emraan Hashmi steals the show: Ae Watan Mere Watan fails to evoke patriotism [reactions]

It looks like Bollywood is obsessed with the patriotic genre, and that too in March. We see consecutive films being released based on different unsung heroes. Late Wednesday night, Amazon Prime Videos dropped Sara Ali Khan and Emraan Hashmi starrer Ae Watan Mere Watan. The two-hour fifteen minutes movie is inspired by real events.

About the film

Ae Watan Mere Watan is based on the pre-independence era and showcases the quest for Independence. It's the story of a young and dynamic girl, Usha Mehta (Sara Ali Khan), who goes against her father and starts an underground radio station to spread the message of unity and wants fellow Indians to unite and fight against the Britishers during the Quit India movement.

The film also has the followings and preachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Emraan Hashmi essays the role of freedom fighter, Ram Manohar Lohia. The film has references from our history books, like how Winston Churchill ruled India and how Congress and Mahatma Gandhi helped unite the nation, started salt satyagraha and won freedom.

The patriotic film is backed by Karan Johar. Directed by Kannan Iyer, the movie was written by Kannan and Darab Farooqui.

Several avid movie lovers who have watched the film Ae Watan Mere Watan, have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to share their take on the film.

Ae Watan Mere Watan has received negative reviews so far. Sara Ali Khan's cold and sloppy act, with merely poor dialogue delivery and a straight face left netizens unimpressed, considering she had a lot of scope to showcase her acting prowess.

Emraan Hashmi stole the show despite a lacklustre screenplay and mundane storytelling. The set looks dim, gloomy and dark. The film failed to evoke a sense of patriotism and felt like there wasn't any need to make this film.

Let's take a look at the social media review!

A user wrote, "One of the biggest miscast. Sara is so bad..."

Another mentioned, I had high hopes for Sara Ali Khan in this film, but her performance fell short. The role demanded a more powerful and emotionally resonant portrayal, but she came across as distant, cold, and lacked the needed depth of expression."

A user mentioned, "Ae Mere Watan is a feeble attempt at highlighting the story of an unsung hero. Barring a credible supporting cast, I could not get over the artificial-looking sets and dim-lit frames."

"Sara Ali Khan's dialogue delivery is more painful than India's freedom struggle", mentioned an avid movie watcher.

The next user wrote, "Sara just can't act.."

Speaking about essaying a patriotic character, Sara in a statement said, "Portraying such a powerful character in Ae Watan Mere Watan has been an honour beyond words. To embody the spirit of my character diving into her consciousness and understanding what motivates and inspires her has been humbling and empowering. The film is a reminder of the sacrifices made by countless unsung heroes and a testament to the fortitude of the human spirit."