Swatantrya Veer Savarkar

What a life and what a man ! Am so glad that Randeep Hooda decided to make this movie himself and not let any of the “secular” Bollywoodiya to make it. Actually it felt like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar came to life and narrated his own life story. That’s how good Randeep’s acting was.

We watched Swatantrya Veer Savarkar on March 30th. It happened to be my birthday according to the Hindu panchang and the movie was in celebration of that. When we first went into the movie theatre, there were hardly 5 people besides us, but before the first advert came up on the screen, the theatre was 70% full. So glad that young folk had come out to watch this movie because Veer Savarkar is a role model worth emulating.

During our 10 day trip to Andamans in 1995, along with Appa and Amma, we had visited the cellular jail and Veer Savarkar’s “double jail”. His was the only cell with two doors, to prevent any escape. The colonial powers thought he was the biggest threat to their rule !! Not because of his physical prowess but because of his ability to rouse the nationalistic sentiments. No wonder the colonial sympathisers left behind by the Brits continue(d) to think of Savarkar as a threat.

All that Veer Savarkar was a threat to was stupidity, religious divisions and “breaking India” forces. God knows we need many more Savarkars today than during the colonial rule.

There are several biographies of Savarkar but the best one probably is written by Dr. Vikram Sampath. It’s a two part biography titled “Echoes from a forgotten past” and “A contested legacy”. Have bought both the books and hopefully will read them now fully after seeing the movie.

I have always wondered about a few things and the movie too wonders about them –

1. Why did Gandhiji not demand life imprisonment for Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru instead of the death penalty ?
2. Why were Gandhiji and Pandit Nehru never sent to Kaala Pani ? Why did the Colonial Brits treat them with kid gloves ? No lathi charge like the one that led to the death of Bal Gangadhar Tilak :(.
3. Gandhiji’s Khilafat movement to support the establishment of the caliphate in Turkey …. really ? In what way did that help India’s struggle for independence?
4. Why did no well known freedom fighter before Veer Savarkar term the 1857 war as the first war of independence? Even to this day, we continue to term it as a “mutiny”. It was no mutiny, it was the first war for independence.

The movie leaves you fuming and utterly sad at the same time. Fuming when you realise that every atrocity that the Colonial Brit “ordered” was carried out by a fellow Indian. The policemen were all Indians, the colonial armed forces had Indian soldiers…. yes Gen Dyer gave the order to shoot at innocent civilians at Jallianwala Bagh, but it was our brothers who fired at our own people. Do think about that. The Naval mutiny happened in 1946, and that finally forced Britain to give independence to India.

You feel utterly sad because the thousands of freedom fighters who died under barbaric conditions at Kaala Pani have been conveniently forgotten … the general amnesia is not good for our future. History has a way of repeating itself and forgetting history is a sure shot way of repeating it. Our history books must talk about Kaala Pani and the cellular jail, and we need to have a memorial for all those who died there.

While all that happens, be sure to watch the movie. Take your children and their friends to watch the movie. Learn about the freedom struggle …. not just about how “piece fully” (pun intended) the colonial Brits handed over the reins to Pandit Nehru. Just as Bhagwan Ram fought and killed Ravana, the enemy has to be vanquished to establish Dharma. Non-violence is not harming the innocent, it’s not about giving a free rein to the evil amongst us.

The above picture has been taken from this article on Hindustan Times – Swatantra Veer Savarkar first look: Randeep Hooda transforms into VD Savarkar, fans call it ‘perfect casting’.

Thank You Randeep Hooda 🙏🏿 for bringing back Veer Savarkar from the lost pages of history.

Jai Hind. Jai Hind Ki Sena.