Swatantrya Veer Savarkar Review: Randeep Hooda’s film is engaging and unsettling!

SWATANTRYAVEER SAVARKAR

Producers- Randeep Hooda, Anand Pandit, Sandeep Singh and Zee Studios

Director- Randeep Hooda

Cast- Randeep Hooda, Anita Lokhande, Rajesh Khera, Amit Sial, Mark Bennington

Platform of Release- Theatres

Rating:

By Jyothi Venkatesh

The biopic marks the directorial debut of actor Randeep Hooda, revolves around the life of freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who chooses the path of violence unlike Mahatma Gandhi for freedom and how his ideologies turn out to be a threat for Britishers. Savarkar has been dragged in the centre of a political storm for years. This biopic tells his side of the story.

Drawing attention for its bold portrayal of the eponymous freedom fighter, the movie showcases Savarkar’s ideological beliefs, his time in the notorious Kala Pani jail etc.Savarkar’s struggle for the country’s freedom to face accusations in free India weaves the storytelling of the riveting biographical drama. Randeep Hooda goes into the detailing of the story and makes sure to showcase the tiniest events of Savarkar’s life.

The biggest drawback of the film is that the scenes are quite slow, sleep-inducing and long which could have easily been trimmed by 30 minutes, especially the Kala Pani sequences. Accused and acquitted of multiple conspiracy theories which includes Gandhi’s assassination, the biopic takes a very close look at the fiery freedom fighter and his tumultuous life.

The film is, to put it in a nutshell, very tense, engaging as well as unsettling, and to its credit, the film does more than presenting a recap of historical events. It delves into the psyche, morals, and implications of it all. Nothing is surface level and each and every frame has a story to tell.

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Hooda’s massive physical transformation is just the tip of the iceberg. Savarkar is both heroic, and helpless, and someone who fights till the end despite the inhuman atrocities inflicted upon him. While Gandhi was hailed as a Mahatma, Savarkar was compelled to wonder if the violence he supported for justice and freedom led to destruction instead. This one is definitely a polarising but powerful biopic that attempts to vindicate Savarkar.

Besides the fact that the dialogues are real and succeed in getting your blood pumping, the film is also technically sound and transportive. The best part of the film is that although it could have, it doesn’t exploit or glorify Savarkar’s ordeal at the solitary confinement but only sets out to weaponize its craft fully.

We get to watch Savarkar’s childhood where we see his deep, abiding affection for his older brother (Amit Sial), his marriage to the lovely Yamuna (Ankita Lokhande), his warm reception at London’s India House and becoming familiar with revolutionary movements underway in both Italy and Russia, his arrest and deportation to India with a failed dash for freedom.

While Randeep Hooda is tops as far as portraying the titular role of Savarkar is concerned, with aplomb, Ankita Lokhande successfully suppresses glamor of any kind and submerges herself into her role dedicatedly. Mention also ought to be made of Rajesh Khera for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi.

All said and done, I should say that the film is diminished by its constant belittling of his contemporaries, especially of Gandhi, who is made to come across as weak, ineffectual, and the real man responsible for the Partition.