received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ranbir is gorgeous in every imaginable way in Shamshera in terms of his acting, sex appeal, dancing, litheness in the action scenes and magnetic personality". Tina Das of The Print rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "While RRR relies heavily on VFX, Ranbir Kapoor's Shamshera affects the heart and feels more realistic with its new caste angle and Vaani Kapoor's acting". Avinash Lohana of Pinkvilla rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Karan Malhotra's Shamshera starring Ranbir Kapoor, Vaani Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt is in line with the ongoing trend of workable films, and has the right amount of drama, action, romance, humour and all other masala potboiler elements to entertain the audience". Mugdha Kapoor of DNA India rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ranbir Kapoor shines in the double role, and the film marks the perfect comeback for the actor". A critic for Filmfare rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "The South film industry has been making such films for the last few years, and Shamshera is Bollywood's bold attempt at replicating the formula. The Hindi film industry needs a renaissance and let's hope this film becomes a catalyst towards it". Rachana Dubey of The Times of India rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "To sum it up, director and co-writer Karan Malhotra surely seemed to have had a grand vision at the onset, but it's his execution that seems to have betrayed him". Sonil Dedhia of News 18 rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Shamshera doesn't really have the punch or the thrill that is required to pull off a film of this scale. The film feels a little too long, blame it on weak editing". Shalini Langer of The Indian Express rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ranbir Kapoor is efficiently good as Shamshera, a leader of a tribe first treated as outcastes and later betrayed and kept enslaved in a fort". Tushar Joshi of India Today rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Shamshera is a mess that needs more than just star power to come to its rescue". Sukanya Verma of Rediff