Producer Sandeep Singh says his story was taken out of cultural narrative by a political party
Producer Sandeep Singh says his story was taken out of cultural narrative by a political party
makers of biopic Swatantra Veer Savarkar The first look of the film was released on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the Hindutva icon.
Starring Randeep Hooda in the lead role, the Mahesh Manjrekar-directed film will go on floors in August 2022 and is slated to release by December 2023, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
While social media was flooded with comments on the surprising resemblance between Mr. Hooda and Savarkar, producer Sandeep Singh revealed Hindu That “when films can be made on Dawood Ibrahim, Harshad Mehta and Lalit Modi, why shouldn’t we celebrate a freedom fighter.”
In the past, the prolific producer has made PM Narendra Modi, was released just after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as the Election Commission had stopped its release before the elections. Mr Singh is now working on a film on Nathuram Godse.
Asked whether he was involved in the campaign, Mr Singh said that if telling the true story of Savarkar was propaganda, then he certainly was. “If telling the story of someone who urged his countrymen to unite is propaganda, then I am definitely making a propaganda film,” he said, adding that he has also produced such films. cluster,
He denied any concerted attempt to promote the Hindutva narrative. “It is the job of a politician, a filmmaker just wants to tell a story that needs to be told,” Mr. Singh said.
Mr Singh said Savarkar was a “misunderstood freedom fighter who could have saved the country’s partition and was left out of the cultural narrative by a political party.”
Demanding Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, he wondered why and at whose insistence Savarkar and Bhimrao Ambedkar were excluded from Richard Attenborough. Gandhi, “Were they not important parties in the freedom movement?” He asked.
Mr. Singh further said that one can deviate from Savarkar’s ideology but it should not mean that he should be kept away from literature and cinema because of politics. The film on Godse will also trace the mindset and journey of a freedom fighter, he added.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that a film is being made on Savarkar. In 2001, when the BJP government was in power, it was made by director Ved Rahi. Veer Savarkari,
In an official release, Mr Manjrekar said, “People may have different versions in their minds for Savarkar, but as a filmmaker, I am trying to match the same idea that Savarkar had. So, Savarkar’s character will not be there in the film. It doesn’t matter who Savarkar was in real life… We will make sure that no Indian ever forgets him.