Dramas & Dreams

A technically brilliant biopic that offers a different perspective on Savarkar and India’s fight for freedom.

First of all, I would like to state that I am not well-versed enough in history and politics to understand the politics inside and outside the film.

But I know a good film when I see one.

And Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is a solid biopic for its perspective, performances, writing, dialogues and cinematography.

Biopics are a difficult genre because one rarely knows how much to pack in, what perspectives to add, and how to walk the tightrope between the lead’s version and justification of events versus the public opinions and legacy left behind.

Perspective

If a biopic’s intention is for the audience to understand where the protagonist is coming from, what could have motivated his shift in ideology, what fires him, crushes him, when he has accepted victory and when he has accepted defeat – then this film serves its purpose.

Apart from being Savarkar’s biopic, this film is also a quick glimpse into India’s struggle for freedom – the history of which is so large that it is nearly impossible to compile it in one film. Thus writer Utkarsh Naithani does a clever job of incorporating the highlights of history that affect Savarkar’s life directly or indirectly.

The film also resists the temptation to feed the audience about famous characters; rather, it is left to the actor, the makeup and styling, the cinematography and the interaction between the characters for us to know who they are.

Khudiram Bose’s sacrifice at his young age affects Savarkar. M. K. Gandhi is introduced on a business card while Savarkar expresses disinterest over meeting him over the former’s support of the British against the Zulus. Bal Gangadhar Tilak is the only one who receives a heroic treatment, given the paternal position he occupies in Savarkar’s life.

The film rarely loses the perspective of its protagonist. Such as the hauntingly beautiful scene where Savarkar finally steps out of the jail to lose and gain everything simultaneously.

Performances

There is very little that I can add to what has already been said about the stellar performances in this film.

Randeep Hooda sinks his teeth into Savarkar as seamlessly as he did with Sarabjit – only few actors can make difficult roles their forte.

Mrinal Dutt easily conveys Madan Lal Dhingra with an arresting presence.

Amit Sial is convincing as the older, dependable yet fierce Ganesh Damodar Savarkar.

And Ankita Lokhande’s brief yet beautiful presence as Yamunabai Savarkar never lost a note.

And perhaps some of the best performances show up in the one-minute scene of each freedom fighter right before they are hanged.

Writing & Dialogues

One of the challenges of a biopic is to humanize their characters. And it would have been far easier to write Savarkar as an inspirational, polarizing, or controversial figure.

But the film humanizes the figure to a man.

From the shame of having to relieve himself in a corner of his solitary confinement to succumbing to hunger to eat the insect-infested rice, from the utter devastation of losing his brothers (literal and metaphorical) to the joy of having his brother in his arms, from being depressed over the fruitlessness of the sacrifices to being tempted by a song and dance at a club – Savarkar appears real.

Death is not welcomed warmly, despite it occurring multiple times.

Yes, questions can be raised on what instances did the film choose to focus on over others, but there’s also an attempt into focusing on the history that made Savarkar as opposed to what Savarkar is known for in history.

The ironies are also not lost. Mahatma Gandhi’s emphasis on nonviolence is intentionally cut to the violent acts freedom fighters committed, as well as Savarkar’s debate pro-violence is cut off by the loss of a beloved.

The film is more dual in nature than what the trailers might suggest. There is little emphasis on who killed his story, there is far more on the clarifications of the stances Savarkar stood for. This is a difficult conversation to be had considering the current political climate in the country.

Coming back to dualities and ironies – which is a prominent theme in the film – one of the finest scenes in the film is the conversation between Savarkar and Barrie at Kaala Paani.

That scene summarizes the strength of the Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Barrie has been Savarkar’s chief tormentor at Kaala Paani, yet before his retirement, he wants to have a conversation with the latter. And as Savarkar firmly points out, a conversation only occurs between two free men.

If Savarkar were to be heroic, he would have forgiven Barrie. Except the trauma lingers in the air like the tempestuous waters, and philosophies are exchanged between the two most unlikely men simply because of them being human beings. One cannot wipe off the intimacies of knowing another person, no matter what the experience might have been.

And dialogues play a key feature in this film. From real-life statements, glorified phrases to mere conversations, the strength of this film is that every character sounds like a real and different person. No two people speak the same – which is a threat in a historical film.

Also, humor finds itself in a film as difficult as Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Be it a quip of Gandhi on surviving Savarkar’s difficult nature, or a bittersweet moment of Dhingra stating he is the more hero-like between him and Savarkar.

Cinematography

The true hero of this film is the camera. Cinematographer Arvind Krishna lets the screen talk when the characters don’t. A few scenes that stand out in particular are when Vinayak Savarkar is speaking for Yamunabai’s hand and is catching a few glimpses in a soft peekaboo which captures the essence of an ideal arranged marriage. Curiosity, liking, and the vague idea of the person in front.

Second is the scene when Mahatma Gandhi visits Savarkar post Savarkar’s release from jail. At this point of time, the silhouettes of Gandhi and Savarkar are very similar – right from their round heads to their round glasses – so the camera focuses between the lenses (literal and figurative) of the two men as they battle out their perspectives.

Third is the implementation of voyeurism in the film. When the freedom fighters of India House plan together, it is intentional that voyeurism is used to capture their montage of laughter or glum. The voyeuristic lens makes me uneasy – and it is justifiably so.

While this film can be broken down in multiple layers for its fine technical execution, it does not come without its own setbacks.

For example, I cannot help but wish there was more for the female characters, no matter how small their roles were. Second, a tighter editing – especially during Kaala Paani – could have helped. The first few minutes are difficult to watch, and are paced very differently from the rest of the film, setting a different expectation of the film’s pacing – hence it could almost feel like the film has slowed down after a quick start while I believe the slower pace benefitted the film far more than its rapid beginning.

Out of all the patriotic films, this is clearly one of the better ones but I wonder if it reaches the wide audience with the way the trailers have been edited – which is in a very different tonality than the film itself. It is also visible that there was a question over where to end the film because there are multiple points in the second half that nearly feel like a finality when we come across a different plot point that could have perhaps had a movie on its own.

In hindsight, I wonder if an approach like Lincoln by Steven Spielberg would have benefitted the film further considering how it encapsulated the famous president’s life over his last few months and focused specifically on the abolishment of slavery to wrap its story as opposed to Lincoln’s entire life.

And I wonder given how detailed this film goes and chapter-like, if a web series would have done more justice to the parts that were compressed in the film. 

Ultimately when it comes to filmmaking, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is easily one of the better political biopics that we have seen. As far as the politics are concerned, for art is never separate from it, I need more education and thus leave the educated to draw their conclusions post watching the film.