Sardar Udham !

Thus, the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre of 13 April, 1919, the central point of the story in certain ways, is presented towards the later part of the film. Incidentally, Sardar Udham must be the only film which has dealt with the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre in such detail.

The scenes showing the firing on the peaceful gathering, the mayhem that ensued, the deaths of thousands (the “official” figure is 379), the curfew and the battle to save lives in the hospital are all done with consummate skill. The effect of the sound of the shots fired at the gathering, and later of the cart on which Udham Singh carried heavily injured people to the hospital is such that one feels as if one is present in the scene of horror.

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Reginald Dyer, who had ordered the firing, died in 1927, but Lieutenant Governor Michael O’Dwyer, the man who was at the helm of affairs in Punjab during the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre, was living a happy retired life in London, and Udham Singh shot and killed him on 13 March, 1940, both as revenge for the Massacre, and also as a daring act that would give the much-needed publicity for those who sought to fight the British in violent ways rather than follow the non-violent movement of Mahatma Gandhi.

The film shows Udham Singh seeking help from Indians in London who were also protesting the oppressions of British Colonial rule in India. Shuan Scott plays Dwyer’s part, very ably bringing out all the petty-mindedness, prejudice, obduracy and stupidity in the man.

The film shows Dwyer especially responsible for the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre because he is shown to speak on Reginald Dyer on the phone, asking him to inflict exemplary punishment on people seeking to oppose the Rowlatt Act which gave the British police extraordinary rights to arrest and detain Indians and criminalized all forms of dissent against British rule.

By focusing on the stupidities and cruelties of Dwyer rather than Dyer (whose grave Udham Singh is shown to visit once), the film is able to emphasize the meaningfulness of Udham Singh’s decision to kill Dwyer.

Vicky Kaushal has done a great job of playing the role of Udham Singh. He has very skilfully brought out the various dimensions of the personality of Udham Singh the revolutionary—particularly the grit, determination, courage and defiance needed to make a brave heart like Udham Singh. The ordinary or normal human features of the revolutionary’s personality are also brought to life by Vicky Kaushal, aided by the intelligent handling of the story-line by the director.

Banita Sandhu plays the part of the simple village girl with speech and hearing challenges whom Udham loves. During the brief scenes in which Banita appears, she is able to give the exact impression of the simplicity, innocence and vulnerability of Shruti Tiwari, the girl from Udham’s youthful days at Amritsar. Kristy Averton plays the part of Eileen Palmer, a Leftist activist whom Udham befriends in London.

It is said that while in the USA (among the many places Udham Singh had been to) Udham Singh had married a Mexican woman, Lupe Hernandez and fathered two sons through her, but that part of Udham Singh’s life is not shown in the film. His relationship with Eileen is handled in the film with expertize, suggesting the romance that may have bloomed between them, but not overtly dealing with that dimension of the relationship.

An important highlight of the screening of the film at the 9^th BVFF was that producer Ronnie Lahiri was present to briefly interact with Prateek Bharali, one of the hosts of BVFF. Bharali asked Lahiri the very relevant question about how a period film was made, and the producer said that a lot of research was required before one can feel confident about making a period film.

He said that with all the resources now available for us to research history, it is not impossible to make a good period film provided we are prepared to work hard. Incidentally, many documents related to Udham Singh are still kept secret. Lahiri also spoke about the incredibly long time it took for them to finally release the film, with many impediments on the way, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amol Parashar, who had played the part of Bhagat Singh with remarkable skill, was also present to speak to the audience. He said that the film sought to highlight the human side of Bhagat Singh rather than deal with all his revolutionary activities.

Ronnie Lahiri also said that the Bhagat Singh story has already been told and retold many times, and so they decided to deal with the Udham Singh story, which is relatively less known. Amol Parashar said that although the film was distributed on Amazon Prime, it was to pleasure to see it on the large screen, as the film was primarily made for the large screen.

Small details have not been overlooked by the director. For instance, when Udham Singh is show in his early days, he cannot speak English fluently, but towards the end of the chronology of the story, when Udham Singh speaks in court, and also when she speaks to his advocates, he speaks English with ease. Naturally, his many years in England have resulted in his fluency in the language.

One of the things that Udham tells his advocate is that he does not hate specific Englishmen, but he hates the evil of British Colonialism perpetrating loot, oppression, cruelty in the name of the white man’s burden. Thus, his killing of Dwyer is an expression of his opposition to that evil system.

Sardar Udham is a must-watch film for all who wish to have a glimpse of a specific moment of British Colonialism in India and also of the doings of the revolutionaries whose fight against the British is sometimes underrated for the sake of upholding the greatness of the non-violent struggle for independence.

(Sanjeev Kumar Nath, sanjeevnath21@gmail.com)

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