Raag Desh
Cast: Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, Mohit Marwah, Kenneth Desai, Mrudula Murali
Rated: 7/10
Any movie that is made on India’s freedom struggle is sure to hold one’s attention. More so, when it happens to be by none other than Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army.
Director Tigmanshu Dhulia has used the backdrop of what transpired between 1941 and 1945 to tell his story which is inspired from true events. That in itself makes you sit up. Add to it, what the British did and their policy towards India and Indians in general — when a telegram is delivered to Winston Churchill about the famine in Bengal, his reply: ‘Is Gandhi dead’ — tells you the absolute callous attitude of the Britishers.
What makes Raag Desh interesting is that is brings to a story that one will not find in the pages of history books. It tells you that freedom came to us at a great cost — soldiers who laid down their lives. But it is a not a war movie even though through a series of flashbacks it does tell you what the war was all about — what the fight was for. The scene where Subhash Chandra Bose (Kenny Basumatary) cleans Bahadur Shah Zafar’s grave in Rangoon and says that you will get you respect back, is poignant.
Shah Nawaz Khan (Kunal Kapoor), Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon (Amit Sadh) and Prem Sahgal (Mohit Marwah) bring their characters to live in a charming and convincing manner. Dhulia needs to be applauded for his efforts to give us a sneak peek into history that shouldn’t be missed.