Sara Ali Khan in ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’
When radio sets were airing Winston Churchill’s mann ki baat and the Congress leadership was incarcerated, an intrepid, young Usha Mehta (Sara Ali Khan) came up with the idea of a covert radio station to reignite the Quit India Movement by instilling patriotic fervour through airwaves. This unsung but important strand of the Indian freedom movement is undone by heavy-handed treatment in Kannan Iyer’s Ae Watan Mere Watan.
For a subject where there is a lot to relate with the present times when electronic media makes or breaks movements and governments, the film’s emotional notes sound either superficial or a little too earnest for a large part. Instead of taking us to the period, the well-meaning venture unspools like a fancy dress show where actors seemingly read out their character sketches from cue cards. In an attempt to connect with the digital generation, it loses the veracity of the time it seeks to recreate.
The start is particularly stagy where Usha, shackled by the love of her father (Sachin Khedekar), a judge devoted to the Raj, is struggling to choose between her family and motherland. The two talk in the affected tone of a television commercial so much that when Usha laments to her friend that she didn’t know that doing the right thing would hurt so much, one wonders why saying the right thing would demand such decoration.
In her bid to portray the earnestness of the character, Sara resorts to chipmunkish behaviour. Here, it is reflected in her expressions and body language. The portion where Usha spurns the romantic advances of her compatriot Kaushik (Abhay Verma) and adopts celibacy is clunkily written and performed, hardly giving us insight into Usha Mehta’s mindscape.
Ae Watan Mere Watan (Hindi)
Director: Kannan Iyer
Cast: Sara Ali Khan, Sparsh Srivastav, Abhay Verma, Anand Tiwari, Sachin Khedekar and Emraan Hashmi
Run-time: 132 minutes
Storyline: When a brave young girl starts an underground radio station to spread the word about the Quit India movement, it sparks a chase with the British authorities
However, gradually, in the company of Sparsh Srivastav, playing a polio-afflicted freedom fighter named Fahad, she settles into the role and, more importantly, the period. Towards the end, they create a heart-tugging scene where the incompleteness of a woman in our society is linked to that of a disabled person. Sparsh who was excellent in Laapataa Ladies follows it up with the supporting act of a Muslim freedom fighter who picks country over partition.
The writing of Darab Farooqui and Kannan is not without potential and the duo makes some valid observations. When the film talks about how the British government controlled the big media and how the radio spread lies, it rings a bell. So does the need for sach ki ghutti (potion of truth) when opium is being fed. Or when it underlines the centrality of funds in bringing about a revolution.
Without pandering to an agenda, the film underscores that much before the current regime took on Jawaharlal Nehru’s idea of India, there was his comrade Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (Emraan Hashmi) who stood up against blind devotion and obeisance. The socialist icon who championed politics of social justice and inspired a generation of politicians hasn’t received his due in popular culture. The film attempts to correct the anomaly and Emraan, in an extended guest appearance, brings alive the honest demeanour of the leader. The thought that a tyranny needs to be fought irrespective of the result leaves a mark and so does the defense of his means which are not entirely Gandhian.
The problem is that the text is not engaging and rousing enough and the subtext comes through like bullet points in an essay writing competition. Historical pieces need to be sparse and contemplative but like the CBSE syllabus, our period films are also turning the past into an objective exercise. The chase between the British officials and the young guns hardly pumps adrenaline into the screenplay, and the simplistic depiction of the secular nature of the freedom movement is treated like a two-mark question.
In this Karan Johar production, gloss overrides the moment’s truth, making the period piece feel made up. The actors who play British officers have been picked for their face value rather than acting chops. They keep scowling with a raised eyebrow till the cows come home and the Fab India-kind of costumes and art design come in the way of the discerning eye. Lohia would have taken umbrage to such pretenses.
Ae Watan Mere Watan is currently streaming on Amazon Prime
