Sardar Udham

The trouble with Sardar Udham is its length: 2 hours, 45 minutes. In his attempt to tell this story, Sircar seems to have forgotten to use his scissors to make the film crisper and thrilling. Vicky Kaushal tries his best but 28 minutes into the movie, after Udham Singh shoots O'Dwyer, the script gets so haphazard that you wonder what is going on. You neither get goosebumps nor the adrenaline rush of desh bhakti which a film like Sardar Udham should give every Indian. The only great success of the film is its picturisation and the movie sets. 1930s London has been picturised so well. Everything you see -- from costumes, homes, cars, courtrooms, the British custom office, British ports and even pamphlets -- makes you believe that a lot of research had gone into the making of this films.

It is when it arrives at Jallianwala Bagh and the brutal mowing down of those innocents that the film, ironically, comes to life. By then, we have spent enough and more time in cold London jails and have seen the crystallisation of Udham as a man who can suffer a million blows to his body but who will not bow before his oppressors. It is this portion, where we see the implacable cruelty of the men who order the Jallianwala Bagh killing, the relentless firing into the crowd desperately trying to save their lives, and the heart-breaking sight of the dead and the dying, that makes this movie comes into its own: sometimes, bearing witness is the only thing you can do, even if it is the hardest thing to do.

Juggling between Udham's past and present, the film reveals different sides of his personality. It not only portrays the protagonist as a revolutionary but also gives us a glimpse of his love life with Shruti Tiwary (Banita Sandhu) and friendship with Bhagat Singh (Amol Parashar). Late actor Irrfan Khan, who was set to play Udham, was the perfect choice to essay a character whose eyes speak louder than words. Vicky, who had big shoes to fill, has proven his versatility by playing Udham— one of the most challenging roles of his career so far. The other actors like Banita , Amol , Shaun Scott, Kirsty Averton and Stephen Hogan have delivered praisewrothy performances.