REVIEW
“Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh” is based on Asghar Wajahat‘s play and is a fictional narrative based on the historical incident of Gandhi’s assassination. In this film, Gandhi and his assassin Nathuram Godse confront each other after an attempted assassination.
I like the concept of alternate reality, the ‘What If’ philosophy. And I don’t remember if Bollywood has ever pulled such a string and that too for a historical incident. Gandhi’s assassination is an ultra-sensitive case because Gandhi’s devotees guaranteed the flagship of secular patriotism and strengthened its roots in the Congress party. But Godse the assassin belonged to Hedgewar‘s right-wing Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Malaviya‘s political party Hindu Mahasabha. So Godse and his fellow devotees holds the flagship of Hindutva patriotism. This ideology gave birth to Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980 and since then, Congress and BJP became bitter political rivals.
The reason for watching this film was to observe how would Gandhi have led the newly freed India from the British Raj and what would Godse have done after failing to assassinate Gandhi. The film marked comeback of director Rajkumar Santoshi after a 10-year hiatus but my observation about the film is that the story and screenplay was too soft. Gandhi-Godse exchanged interesting debate but it lacked intensity. Godse who carried fury to shed blood and kill the Mahatma was like a heartbroken boyfriend in front of Gandhi in the prison.
The film completely lost the grip when Gandhi is imprisoned by his own loyalists and is actually allowed to put in Godse’s cell on Gandhi’s request. The story did conclude with a politically poetic end and Rajkumar Santoshi smartly left their fate open in loose ends.
CLOSING REMARKS
Did ‘Gandhi Godse’ serve the purpose? The idea was brilliant but I am afraid the story failed to revise the complex history. If I was offered to make a film based on such ‘What If’, I would have uprooted Gandhi and Godse from the pages of history to the 21st century India as the spirits in the middle of some riots and make them argue about the present India and their ideologies.
The performances were below-par and A. R. Rahman‘s score was stereotypical, nothing special nor innovative. An impressive pitch that failed in the presentation.
RATING 2.5/10
SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND WATCH MY FILM REVIEW HERE
FOLLOW ‘THE DARK KNAIK’ ON OTHER SOCIAL PLATFORMS
LETTERBOXD https://letterboxd.com/TheDarkKnaik/
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/thedarkknaik
INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/thedarkknaik/
Sami Naik | Film Critic 