Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is one of the most-awaited films of the year 2024. It is a biographical drama based on the life of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, aka Veer Savarkar. When Randeep Hooda confirmed that he would be playing Veer Savarkar in the biopic, it created a stir on the internet. Everyone is aware of the fact that Veer Savarkar is one of the most debatable revolutionaries in the history of India's freedom struggle.
Even today, people are divided into two camps. One believes that Veer Savarkar never got the respect he deserves for starting the armed revolution that played an important part in India's fight for freedom. However, the other section of society makes fun of Veer Savarkar and mocks his followers by calling him 'Sorry Savarkar', in reference to his mercy petitions to the British.
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With claims and speculations from both camps, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's legacy still remains fiercely contested. According to a BBC report, another controversial page in Veer Savarkar's life is his history with Mahatma Gandhi.
As per the report, over the decades, several critics alleged that Veer Savarkar reportedly played a role in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948 and condemned his role in India's freedom. While both his followers and critics are unable to present solid proof that can finally rest this debate, Veer Savarkar's legacy still has a big question mark on it.
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On May 28, 2023, the official teaser of Swatantrya Veer Savarkar was dropped on YouTube, breaking the headlines in no time. While the age-old debate on Veer Savarkar's role in India's freedom struggle started again, most of the outburst was for the mention of Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Khudiram Bose in the teaser.
The teaser of Randeep Hooda's film claimed that Veer Savarkar was the one, who inspired Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Khudiram Bose. Within days, Subhas Chandra Bose's grandnephew, Chandra Kumar Bose reacted to the same and advised Randeep Hooda not to distort history.
In a conversation with ANI, Chandra Kumar Bose even warned Swatantrya Veer Savarkar's director, Randeep Hooda, that if the movie presents distorted facts, then 140 crore people will go against him. The doting grandson clearly stated that there was no need to mention Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh in the biopic of Veer Savarkar, as they shared different ideologies. He said:
"There is no need for Netaji, Bhagat Singh and Khudiram Bose in a movie on Savarkar. Savarkar's ideas were different, he embraced a Hindutva ideology. He was attached to Hindu Mahasabha. However, Netaji was against Hindu Mahasabha. He had a more inclusive and secular ideology. No filmmaker has the right to distort facts. If the movie presents distorted facts, the nation's 140 crore people will go against him."
Amidst all the controversy, famous Indian historian, Dr. Ruchika Sharma also presented her take on Randeep Hooda's film, claiming that Veer Savarkar inspired Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose. The historian appeared in a video on the popular YouTube channel, Mojo Story, and dismissed most of the things shown or claimed in Swatantrya Veer Savarkar's teaser.
Dr. Ruchika Sharma even stated that Veer Savarkar wasn't even the most feared revolutionary and hinted at how things were exaggerated in the teaser. Not only this, she also mentioned how Veer Savarkar praised Britishers in one of his mercy letters, while Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose were completely against them. The video received a lot of mixed comments, but most of them praised Ruchika for calling out the alleged propaganda movie.
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Just when everyone thought Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's legacy would remain controversial till the end of time, it was Bollywood actor, Randeep Hooda, who took the mantle to change it. Although at the beginning, Randeep was just playing Veer Savarkar, but as time passed, he went too deep into the research part and hence decided to direct the film. In a conversation with India Today, he thanked Veer Savarkar for being the inspiration and reason for him to make his debut as a director and producer. He said:
"I was cast as an actor in this film and, since there was no real script, I kept waiting for it and I kept losing weight. So, I wrote it myself with my co-writer Utkarsh Naithani, and then the universe conspired. So, thanks to Mr. Vinayak Damodar Savarkarji that I have become from just an actor into a writer, director and even a producer, and it has been a meteoric learning process for me and I still am learning."
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Further, in the same conversation, Randeep Hooda admitted that most of his family members and well-wishers told him not to do a film on Veer Savarkar because of his controversial figure. However, due to his interest in history right from an early age, he decided to take on the challenge of presenting the true story of Veer Savarkar to the world. The actor termed Veer Savarkar as one of the 'most misunderstood freedom fighters'. Opening about the same, he said:
"It's a movie about one of the most-misunderstood freedom fighters of our country. Even if you hate him, you should watch it and see what the truth was, what our country's independence struggle was. It's not an alternate take on history. It is just uncovering the history that we were not taught in school and his great contribution."
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There's no denying that Randeep Hooda is extremely passionate about his craft. He is also among the few actors in Bollywood, who hardly say 'yes' to a project in which they don't believe. However, it will be interesting to see whether Randeep Hooda's film, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar will finally change people's negative opinions of Veer Savarkar or if his critics will still label him as 'Maafi Veer'.
What are your thoughts on Randeep Hooda's biographical drama, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, based on the life of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, aka, Veer Savarkar? Let us know.
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