Savarkar - survivor of Kala Paani

Every year comes a movie which moves you with its film-making or storytelling or just the whole package. In 2022, it was Kantara and Sam Bahadur in 2023. In 2024, watching Razakar, Article 370 and Bastar, I felt that I was living under a rock for most of my adult life. Then came Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. The story of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was not spoken about or discussed like we discuss some of the characters from the movie who get praised even today simply because they got to script India’s independence and post 1947 happenings.

Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is not just a movie but a re-telling of a story which we had not heard completely. It is a part of history that was brushed out. The amount of pain and suffering the protagonist faces is unbearable and physically painful to watch. Ironically, his name alongwith a bunch of others were removed from our history to support a narrative of non-violence. Some of the names

Chapekar Brothers

Khudiram Bose

Anant Kanhare

Madan Lal Dhingra

Sukhdev

Rajguru

Bhagat Singh

Subhash Chandra Bose

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

The last three names couldn’t be erased due to their appearance at turning points in our Independence struggle. The movie shows how the unsung heroes were somehow linked to Veer Savarkar, either inspired or influenced by him. VD Savarkar is a complex character - an intelligent man, an intellectual and a visionary.  A three hour movie cant do justice to his story, but it does showcase the commitment and calibre of Randeep Hooda in doing justice to the historic period. In 2016, Randeep Hooda made everyone sit up and notice how he played Sarbjit.  He continues that in this outing. Losing 38 kgs to get under the skin of the character is one such example. He has not acted; he has burrowed deep under the skin of the most towering personalities of the Indian Freedom struggle. Came home and referenced material and was shocked how much is kept out of history books. To whose benefit?

Serving 28 years in jail and 2-3 years after Indian independence, what justice is that? When he is released from jail, the hope raised by the soundtrack of cheers only to fade away into complete silence as we see a lonely brother waiting for his younger brother to come out. Sadness!  The sheer happiness of the prisoner when gets a pen and the glow in his eyes while saying “I like pens, I like to write” is captured vividly. The number of petitions he writes to release prisoners which all fall on deaf years. Never give up. The man who is portrayed as violent dies due to a hunger protest. Tragedy that we almost, lost the story of such a brave soul. Let us keep the story alive. Jai Hind! Vande Mataram!