In the darkness of the night of the 23rd day of the month of March in the year 1931, three dead bodies were burnt in a jungle near Ferozepur (Punjab). The sparks coming out their bodies set the minds of a whole population on fire. A revolution broke out. A nation awakened.
These dead bodies were of three great Indian martyrs - Shivraam Rajguru, Sukhdev Thaapar and Sardaar Bhagat Singh. All being barely 23-24 years old, sacrificed their lives for the cause of liberating their motherland from the shackles of slavery, the colonial rule of the British. Sardaar Bhagat Singh was the first among equals in this threesome.
Born in the house of Sardaar Kishan Singh from the stomach of a brave lady - Vidyavati, Bhagat Singh learnt to love his nation and hate the foreign rule since his early childhood. His uncle, Sardaar Ajeet Singh was a great patriot who spent a major part of his life either in jail or in exile. In such a great family, this great son of India was born with abundant love for his nation in his genes.
A number of movies have been made in Bollywood on the life of this great thinker cum martyr. I consider Shaheed (1965) as the best movie made on the life of this legend. The movie which I consider the second best in this context is The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002.
True to its title, The Legend of Bhagat Singh narrates the legend of this revolutionary from birth to death, covering the historical incidents taking place in that period (1907-1931). Rajkumar Santoshi has directed this movie after a lot of research work. Still a couple of lacunaes got overlooked. At the time of the Chauri Chaura incident (1922) in which a mob had burnt a police station killing many policemen, Bhagat Singh was 14-15 years old but in the movie, Santoshi has committed the blunder of showing him as 10 years old. Besides, the movie portrays Mahatma Gandhi in badlight (he appears to be a supporter of the British) which could have been avoided through careful drafting of the script.
If we ignore these deficiencies, The Legend of Bhagat Singh is a highly authentic and sensitive movie which portrays the life and conveys the message of the great visionary with a high intensity of passion. The movie unlike the other Bhagat Singh based movies, gives proper footage and importance to his fellow martyrs - Sukhdev and Rajguru. In fact, this is the only movie in which these two martyrs have been described in detail and with realism. The character of the leader of the revolutionary group, Chandra Shekhar Aazaad has been given ample footage and his greatness has been brought to fore with vehemence, still his character has not been allowed to overshadow that of Bhagat Singh.
The biggest plus point of this movie is that it has put greater emphasis on the philosophy and thoughts of Bhagat Singh than his armed activities. In discussions inside the revolutionary group as well as in the high tempo drama in the courtroom, the director has focused on the ideas of the young legend whose tender age did not match the maturity of his brains. He was able to look beyond the immediate goal of attainment of political freedom and visualize the future state of affairs in the nation. He understood the reality and knew what should be the ideal state of affairs post freedom. He knew that substition of old masters by news masters will not change the fortunes of the country. The system that ensured exploitation and oppression of the resourceless and the underdog by the resourceful and the mighty, had to be changed. Then only the freedom could be called freedom in the true sense. The movie presents these ideas from the mouth of the great martyr with such a clarify that is rarely seen in the Indian movies.
Technically, the movie is marvellous. The production value is high. The art director and the cinematographer have left no stone unturned in bringing that bygone era alive on the screen. Everything has been shown with a high degree of authenticity. The movie is not unduly long and certain events not supported by the historical records have been avoided. Despite dealing with real life episodes, the movie has not been reduced to a documentary. It is very interesting from beginning to end.
Dialogues are quite praiseworthy. The discussion between Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev regarding the arrest after throwing the harmless bomb and the pamphlets in the central assembly, is damn impressive.
A.R. Rehman has composed the music according to the patriotic flavour of the movie. In addition to the songs written by the martyrs themselves, i.e., Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna, Mera Rang De Basanti Chola and Pagadi Sambhaal Jatta; Desh Mere Desh Mere Meri Jaan Hai Tu and Maahi Ve specially impress among the songs which are all admirable. Sameer has written good lyrics for the songs.
Ajay Devgan quite deservingly won the national award for the best actor for this movie. His eyes speak a lot. He not just played the role. He seems to have lived a minuscule life of the immortal hero. Ditto for Sushant Singh as Sukhdev who got perhaps the meatiest role of his acting career and shined like anything. Farida Jalaal as Bhagat Singh's mother, Raj Babbar as his father and D. Santosh as Rajguru are fabulous. Despite his age being on the higher side, Akhilendra Mishra has left a big impression in the role of Chandra Shekhar Aazaad and the scene of his death is a tear-jerker. All others have done their cameos with perfection. Even the smallest character has not been ignored and allowed to maintain its identity.
I pay my tribute to the immortal martyr whose legend will continue to be told generations after generations.
These dead bodies were of three great Indian martyrs - Shivraam Rajguru, Sukhdev Thaapar and Sardaar Bhagat Singh. All being barely 23-24 years old, sacrificed their lives for the cause of liberating their motherland from the shackles of slavery, the colonial rule of the British. Sardaar Bhagat Singh was the first among equals in this threesome.
Born in the house of Sardaar Kishan Singh from the stomach of a brave lady - Vidyavati, Bhagat Singh learnt to love his nation and hate the foreign rule since his early childhood. His uncle, Sardaar Ajeet Singh was a great patriot who spent a major part of his life either in jail or in exile. In such a great family, this great son of India was born with abundant love for his nation in his genes.
A number of movies have been made in Bollywood on the life of this great thinker cum martyr. I consider Shaheed (1965) as the best movie made on the life of this legend. The movie which I consider the second best in this context is The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002.
True to its title, The Legend of Bhagat Singh narrates the legend of this revolutionary from birth to death, covering the historical incidents taking place in that period (1907-1931). Rajkumar Santoshi has directed this movie after a lot of research work. Still a couple of lacunaes got overlooked. At the time of the Chauri Chaura incident (1922) in which a mob had burnt a police station killing many policemen, Bhagat Singh was 14-15 years old but in the movie, Santoshi has committed the blunder of showing him as 10 years old. Besides, the movie portrays Mahatma Gandhi in badlight (he appears to be a supporter of the British) which could have been avoided through careful drafting of the script.
If we ignore these deficiencies, The Legend of Bhagat Singh is a highly authentic and sensitive movie which portrays the life and conveys the message of the great visionary with a high intensity of passion. The movie unlike the other Bhagat Singh based movies, gives proper footage and importance to his fellow martyrs - Sukhdev and Rajguru. In fact, this is the only movie in which these two martyrs have been described in detail and with realism. The character of the leader of the revolutionary group, Chandra Shekhar Aazaad has been given ample footage and his greatness has been brought to fore with vehemence, still his character has not been allowed to overshadow that of Bhagat Singh.
The biggest plus point of this movie is that it has put greater emphasis on the philosophy and thoughts of Bhagat Singh than his armed activities. In discussions inside the revolutionary group as well as in the high tempo drama in the courtroom, the director has focused on the ideas of the young legend whose tender age did not match the maturity of his brains. He was able to look beyond the immediate goal of attainment of political freedom and visualize the future state of affairs in the nation. He understood the reality and knew what should be the ideal state of affairs post freedom. He knew that substition of old masters by news masters will not change the fortunes of the country. The system that ensured exploitation and oppression of the resourceless and the underdog by the resourceful and the mighty, had to be changed. Then only the freedom could be called freedom in the true sense. The movie presents these ideas from the mouth of the great martyr with such a clarify that is rarely seen in the Indian movies.
Technically, the movie is marvellous. The production value is high. The art director and the cinematographer have left no stone unturned in bringing that bygone era alive on the screen. Everything has been shown with a high degree of authenticity. The movie is not unduly long and certain events not supported by the historical records have been avoided. Despite dealing with real life episodes, the movie has not been reduced to a documentary. It is very interesting from beginning to end.
Dialogues are quite praiseworthy. The discussion between Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev regarding the arrest after throwing the harmless bomb and the pamphlets in the central assembly, is damn impressive.
A.R. Rehman has composed the music according to the patriotic flavour of the movie. In addition to the songs written by the martyrs themselves, i.e., Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna, Mera Rang De Basanti Chola and Pagadi Sambhaal Jatta; Desh Mere Desh Mere Meri Jaan Hai Tu and Maahi Ve specially impress among the songs which are all admirable. Sameer has written good lyrics for the songs.
Ajay Devgan quite deservingly won the national award for the best actor for this movie. His eyes speak a lot. He not just played the role. He seems to have lived a minuscule life of the immortal hero. Ditto for Sushant Singh as Sukhdev who got perhaps the meatiest role of his acting career and shined like anything. Farida Jalaal as Bhagat Singh's mother, Raj Babbar as his father and D. Santosh as Rajguru are fabulous. Despite his age being on the higher side, Akhilendra Mishra has left a big impression in the role of Chandra Shekhar Aazaad and the scene of his death is a tear-jerker. All others have done their cameos with perfection. Even the smallest character has not been ignored and allowed to maintain its identity.
I pay my tribute to the immortal martyr whose legend will continue to be told generations after generations.