A pallid debate and naive in its stance
Overview: MK Gandhi’s assassination and whether or not Nathuram Godse was justified have all the time been moot, particularly of late. Rajkumar Santoshi’s newest providing makes an attempt to current each side by way of a face-off between the occasion’s essential characters, Gandhi (Deepak Antani) and Godse (Chinmay Mandlekar).
The film begins with the India-Pakistan Partition and the communal violence that ensued. It shortly establishes the Hindu and Sikh populations’ gripe in opposition to Gandhi for his or her struggling. Nathuram Godse’s anger and Bapu’s assassination additionally observe quickly sufficient. Nevertheless, the movie’s tempo dips after that, and the narrative drags the entire first half to set the context. It covers some essential occasions, comparable to Gandhi’s quick unto dying for Hindu-Muslim peace and the circumstances to finish it.
The dialogue on Gandhi vs Godse has raged on since 1948, however the movie is pallid in presenting their debate, as such, as they’re cooped up in the identical jail cell. The protagonists’ respective ideologies, actions and stances discover a house, however their confrontation isn’t compelling sufficient. By the Gram Swaraj Motion, the outing additionally touches upon social points comparable to untouchability and casteism and Gandhiji’s makes an attempt to handle financial or humanitarian exploitations and forge equality and justice. These are cursorily portrayed by way of incidents strung one after one other and used to ascertain how a story and public sentiment might be manipulated.
Deepak Antani and Chinmay Mandlekar share a putting resemblance with Gandhi and Godse, respectively. Each the actors’ mannerisms and diction are on level. Different historic figures, together with Jawaharlal Nehru (Pawan Chopra), Babasaheb Ambedkar, Maulana Azad, Sardar Patel (Ghanshyam Srivastav), and many others, are additionally portrayed properly. Gandhi Godse additionally introduces Tanisha Santoshi as Sushma and Anuj Saini as Naren. Whereas the previous reveals promise, the latter is satisfactory.
Rajkumar Santoshi’s path retains the drama gripping intermittently, however the movie’s therapy, Rishi Punjabi’s cinematography, with the sunshine play and macro videography, deserve point out. The occasions throughout Partition are recreated skilfully, as is the historic milieu. Asghar Wajahat’s dialogues are impactful, particularly Gandhi’s quotes like, “Sarkarein hukumatein karti hain, seva nahin.”
The movie does take a important have a look at a few of Gandhi’s ideologies, comparable to celibacy. His imaginative and prescient of Kasturba Gandhi telling him that he had wronged her personally, point out of Jayprakash Narayan, Harilal (Hiralal) and Manilal Gandhi or Godse reminding him of different leaders present some accountability.
AR Rahman’s music heightens the drama, each Vaishnav Jan To and Raghupati Raghav.
The choice actuality or historical past is an fascinating take if seen only for the reimagination. Gandhi Godse: Ek Yudh is watchable for those who can patiently sit by way of the primary half as a result of the second half is gripping. However, it might disappoint these invested within the nation’s historical past.
