Swatantra Veer Savarkar movie review.
This is an awesome movie—five stars all the way. It has superb direction and acting, and historical honesty.Randeep Hooda is Savarkar, not himself. It is historically honest and worth watching.
Disclaimer: Based on my research, Vinayak Savarkar and Subhas Bose were the two most important personalities involved in the fight for Independence. Savarkar was dubbed the most dangerous man in India, and Bose was called the most dangerous of the extremists' leaders in Bengal.’I am partial to these two and must admit it.
Because thousands of ex-INA soldiers whose brains had been turned as per the British were back in India, it became impossible to subdue Bose’s details completely, though it was done as much as possible in post-Independence India. Even in exile from 1932 to 1936, he was a menace to the British.
Savarkar, because he was in India, suffered much more. Refused a license to practice despite qualifying for the legal profession, was put through the hell of Kalapani, and was severely restricted. Even after being released from practicing his profession movement and keeping it with a restricted movement, he was still able to lead a movement to remove social barriers and inspire others with his leadership.
Movie Review:
The political atmosphere of India in the 1900s is well brought out, as is how revolutionaries were made and their motivation. The movie moves fast, and using old actual scenes and newspaper headlines adds authenticity to the story. The scenes of Kalapani are well presented, including the meeting with Mr. Craddock, which is presented dispassionately. The director does not lose focus, and the editing is tight, with no unnecessary scenes.
The movie is packed with information. How the first time the Indian flag was flown, how it was designed, how the voting rights were given based on religion and given disproportionately to a specific community, and Jinnah’s estrangement with Gandhi after Gandhi’s support to the Ali brothers in Khilafat are portrayed subtly and so on. The director has not given in to the usual temptation of creating false equivalences, a characteristic that plagues Bollywood.
Deprived of any means to practice his livelihood, Savarkar's pathetically small allowance should have received a bit more detail, as this is a frequent part of a dishonest anti-Savarkar narrative.
The time requirement of a movie severely restricts the ability to explain in detail or context. Most people have not been taught real history, so they will likely miss full impact of these actions' deeper undercurrents and meanings.
A must-see.Kudos to Randeep Hooda.