Published every month, this column picks up the best, worst and most unexpected in Indian film and television over the past months. Consider it a report card. In October, an Indian revolutionary celebrated with a powerful film, a film about running featured very little running, and a young actor dazzled in a black play.
the best
Sardar Udham (Amazon Prime)
The most striking aspect of Shoojit Sircar’s Sardar Udham is its casting. Not only did the director cast Vicky Kaushal in the silent, inner role of a revolutionary struggling with the nature of revolution from the jingoistic bombings of Uri, but he also cast Amol Parashar as the great Bhagat Singh. Casting this actor, known for playing collegiate roles in the TVF web-show to play the icon, emphasizes the heart-wrenching young age Bhagat Singh, The film reminds that the bravest of the freedom fighters and the lioness was just a boy.
As were his allies. Played brilliantly by Kaushal, Udham is presented as a simple, friendly young man who is hurt and transformed by the nightmare of Jallianwala Bagh. The night before the massacre, instead of announcing his intention to sleep for the whole day, he unceremoniously avoids the idea of participating in the protests in the garden. When we first meet him, years after the incident – wandering through frozen Siberia or making naan for minimum wage in London – we know Fuss as a man who never sleeps.
Discomfort, like revenge, boils down to its own heat. “You lamb, we lamb,” he says to a member of the Irish Republican Army, paused but without hesitation, “butcher the same.” Sarkar’s film exhorts the British for their inhuman crimes, while its protagonists patiently and single-mindedly focus on only one mission: killing the monster behind the nightmare. While Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on innocents, the film attributed more responsibility to the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, Michael O’Dwyer. Eager to crush the growing movement across the country, it was O’Dwyer who encouraged the general to set ‘an example’ of the peaceful protesters at Jallianwala Bagh.
The blood on the ground may be shed by foot soldiers, but the blame falls on the person who controls the state and supports violence. Butchers don’t always bring knives.
O’Dwyer was assassinated by Udham Singh. The film explores his reasoning, and lets us watch him follow his prey for two decades. It is a difficult, intense watch, a film that goes on long enough to depict Singh’s journey. We see him age and journey, find his voice and find his trust. Avik Mukhopadhyay’s cinematography is superb, and the production feels as authentic as British wartime plays, setting a new benchmark for Indian period productions.
Vicky Kaushal in Sardar Udham.
Sarkar – with writers Shubhendu Bhattacharya and Ritesh Shah – shows us Singh’s struggle up close, and Vicky Kaushal is remarkably thoughtful in this part, creating a freedom fighter who not only rejoices and attacks but also ponders and questions. Hustle of skill is a man who knows the weight of every word he says. Sardar Udham makes us realize why the revolutionary chose to be identified as “Ram Mohammad Singh Azad”. I wonder if it’s an unintelligible name or an overly-prestigious name, or is there a difference.
Throughout the film, Sarkar continues to give us brutal glimpses of Fuss being tortured in captivity, and these bouts of violence—each successive scene feels more dehumanizing, as we’ve gotten to know the man a little more—make the audience come to a halt. condition for the time being. That doesn’t mean we’re ready for it.
The film ends at Jallianwala Bagh. Sarkar and his impressive production team completely pierced the audience’s eyes with the carnage. It’s a terrifying (and exquisitely expanded) sequence, made to feel endless. It seeks to expose the audience to claustrophobia and repulsion. The narcissism feels painfully real and absurdly untrue. The bullets keep coming. One hand continues to hold a gate while one hand is fired. Dead bodies keep falling. A girl who cannot speak testifies to the unspeakable.
We can’t look away. We should not look away. At a time when we are spoiling our own history, this film is a monument.
worst
Taapsee Pannu’s Rashmi in the rocket race (Zee5)
Taapsee Pannu, a fine actress who seems content to repeat herself – she is plucky-defiant-victorious in every film – plays a track and field athlete Akarsh Khurana’s Rashmi Rocket Where, for some startling reason, we can barely see him running. The actress has worked on her physique, but her running has always looked artificial, and the film’s slow pace and accelerating few scenes showing real racing don’t add credibility.
Rashmi Rocket is streaming on ZEE5.
most unexpected
Paramvir Cheema in Tabbar (Sonylive)
The ensemble cast in Tabbar, an obscure Punjabi drama, has actors so talented and well-chosen that it is difficult to choose which one to appreciate first. Yet while the show features powerhouse actors like Pawan Malhotra, Supriya Pathak and Ranvir Shorey, Paramvir Cheema plays the honest policeman Lucky Singh, a sociable and clean young man who tries to prove his investigative skills and do more. Eager to deal with. Scrap than handed its way. It’s a great performance, and – as the real hero of the series – Chima is Tabbar’s most unforgettable and unexpected characters. Even if it is less than his name.
Raja Sen is a critic, writer and screenwriter, currently working on a film that he is not allowed to talk about.
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