*The
Reel Savarkar*
In
the early years of the 20th century, a young Maharashtrian Brahmin from
Ratnagiri goes to London to study law. Coming from a nationalist family,
he is soon in contact with some of the other Indian patriots in London.
The young student, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar(1883-1966), jumps into
this small group of dissenters. Far away from their country, yet nobly
drawn to do something for its freedom, raging at what Britain has done
to India but impotent to punish her, these young men and their academician
mentor, Shyamaji Krisnavarma(another newfound icon of the BJP’s effort
to recast history and find freedom struggle heroes with a Saffronite
bent - slim pickings, unfortunately) revel in little, largely inconsequential,
conspiratorial eddies(usually attempted assassination), whose purpose
(unrealized) is to assuage their own egos.
It is at this stage
that we first encounter Savarkar in director Ved Rahi’s film about his
life, now doing the rounds in North America.
Savarkar comes across
as an intense person who is able to inspire others to commit acts of
violence. In 1908, one of his acolytes, Madanlal Dhingra, shoots an
English official, for which he is hanged. Gandhi condemned the act unequivocally.
Savarkar’s response is unclear - he is shown disrupting a meeting of
Indians to condemn Dhingra’s action, but never says anything definitive
to outline his philosophy.
Continued in comments . . . .