Kunal Kapoor and Mohit Marwah star in the engaging yet authentic Raag Desh based on the Red Fort trials. In conversation with S Sattar
Most Indian movies come with a disclaimer that all the characters and incidents are fictional and bear no resemblance to truth. Tigmanshu Dhulia’s, Raag Desh which hits the theatres this week will say something exactly the opposite — every character and incident is based on truth. Based on the Red Fort Trials of three Indian National Army officers, Colonel Prem Sehgal, Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Major Shah Nawaz Khan, the film promises to take the audience to a time when passions and emotions to make India free reigned.
The cast as well as producer Gurdeep Singh Sappal visited the Marwah studios in Noida on Kargil Diwas. Actor Kunal Kapoor, best known for his role in the iconic movie, Rang De Basanti, said, “I was surprised that no movie was made on this incident before because this story really belongs to the big screen. Everything that should be there in a larger than life film is there in the trials. Nothing had to be made up or fictionalised.” Kapoor plays Major Shah Nawaz Khan in the movie which encapsulates everything from a court room drama to a war film so there is a bit of everything.
Another reason Kapoor feels that this should make it to the big screen is the fact that it is an important part of our history. “Many of the reports by British Intelligence and administration reports say that the formation of the INA was one of the main reasons that the British left the country because they felt that if the army had turned against them they could not control the country any more. By these trials, they wanted to prove that the three men were traitors. Instead they ended up uniting the country as 3-4 lakh people came out in every city that the three went to. But strangely, there is nothing in text books about them,” says Kapoor.
Mohit Marwah, who made his debut with the movie Fugly, plays Colonel Prem Sehgal, says, “The film revolves around three officers, one Hindu, one Sikh and one Muslim. When I first met Tigmanshu, I asked him what should I do to get closer to the character, Prem Sehgal and he told me to take out all the corruption from my life and I would be ready to play him. He told me, to forget acting and if on the screen that niceness is evident, my job was done,” he says. And Marwah worked on his look for the movie. Sandeep Marwah, film, television, media personality as well as founder of Noida Film City and his father says, “Mohit researched the movie and looked at old photographs of his grandfather also to understand the way people dressed and looked.” The story also has a love angle where Sehgal meets Captain lakshmi Swaminathan of the Rani of Jhansi regiment. The character of lakshmi is played by Mrudula Murali and Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon is portrayed by actor Amit Sadh.
The film was also shown to the President of India recently where the family members of the three INA heroes were invited. Politician and activist Subhashini Ali, the daughter of Prem and lakshmi Sehgal loved the movie. “As soon as the film got over she ran to Kunal and me. She called Shahnawaz, uncle and Prem Sehgal was her father. She gave us a big hug which said it all. She was so happy that we took the instances without playing with them in an engaging way. That is the first stamp of approval,” says Marwah.
Sappal, producer, says, “The film has two major records. In more than a100 years of film history, never has a movie trailer been released in the Parliament, which was done for Raag Desh. It was also the first time that Rajya Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV has gone ahead with a full-length feature film for main cinema.”
Kapoor was a part of another historical, RDB and he finds there is something that the superhit has in common with Raag Desh. “In both the movies the people worked with a lot of enthusiasm. I think it happens when you realise that you are a part of very powerful film. I haven’t felt it in any film except for RDB and this.”
Kapoor makes a strong case for more historicals to be made in the country. “In this country we hardly make any historicals which are authentic. Usually when we make historicals, they are documentrish so they are not engaging enough for the audience or a lot of it gets fictionalised to make it entertaining.” He makes a point when Kapoor takes up the case of the movie Gandhi, which was made by a foreigner. “It is a pity that in the west they make 3-4 historicals in a year and they keep it authentic but they make big money at box office also,” says Kapoor.
So for all those who have a yen for history and even those who don’t, make a beeline for the theatres as the movie releases on July 28.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar