The Legend Of Bhagat Singh [2002]

The Legend Of Bhagat Singh

Reviewed 29.08.2007


When this film released, just over five years ago, I was totally against watching it for various reasons: [1] I was a huge fan of 23rd March 1931 Shaheed (the Deol's version) and had a grudge of sorts against Raj Kumar Santoshi [RKS] for playing dirty with the Deol's, [2] I hated the soundtrack with a passion, [3] Though even then I was a huge fan of Ajay Devgan, I felt he was a completely incorrect casting for the role of Bhagat Singh, especially when I had heard him (attempt to) scream 'Inquilab Zindabad' in the promo - I felt he sounded like a mouse.

Now, five years is a long time! So when I saw the DVD on sale in a store a couple of months back, I decided it was worth buying (because it was so cheap - in a 3 for £10 deal). And then eventually I got around to watching it earlier this week.

The film is a brilliant attempt at trying to tell the true story of Bhagat Singh and the history of India at that time. With so many cinematic adaptations on this piece of history, it's impossible not to compare the films with each other! The two films I will compare it to are 23rd March 1931 Shaheed [Guddu Dhanoa, 2002] and Rang De Basanti [Rakeysh Mehra, 2006]. In comparison to the Guddu Dhanoa film, The Legend Of Bhagat Singh [TLOBS] is far superior in most aspects - and this statement comes from a huge fan of Dhanoa’s version. Where Dhanoa’s version fails, RKS excels. The technical aspects in TLOBS is evidently better and TLOBS also appears as the more intelligently scripted and historically correct version – especially as Bhagat Singh’s own brother had guided RKS. However there is one department in which Dhanoa’s version is far greater, and that is the soundtrack (which I will comment on in more detail later)! Now coming to Rang De Basanti, which deals with the subject in an entirely different way as compared to the two Bhagat Singh films, I would say that Rang De Basanti arguably is a better film then TLOBS. Rakeysh Mehra cleverly incorporates the history of Indian independence, without becoming to lecture-type and wannabe-studious about it. TLOBS is definitely like a history lesson but that doesn’t necessarily stand as a negative point against the film, because I’d say it’s a history lesson every Indian should go through the process of watching!

My only problems with the film are [1] the soundtrack and [2] a small part of the film that I found unconvincing. I’ll talk about these first, so I can get them out of the way:

Though a brilliant film, TLOBS does have its downsides. The most irritating one, according to me, being the soundtrack by A R Rahman. Though here I would add that the background score of the film is definitely praiseworthy, the actual soundtrack was so disappointing and out of context – an absolute disappointment from someone like A R Rahman who is so highly rated! Not even a single song on the album consists of Punjabi-flavour and none of the singers sing in a way believable that Bhagat Singh may have sang, making it hard to digest that these songs could have existed in that time. The instruments used also seem out of place considering the time the film is set in, in fact the songs sound extremely modern. This is the one department that Guddu Dhanoa’s version, with music by Anand Raaj Anand, scores over Raj Kumar Santoshi.

The only other disappointment in the film was the scene in which we see Mannewali and Bhagat actually speaking! That was incredibly surprising. Would a couple in a village of Punjab, and that too in the 1920s/30s actually speak to each other before marriage like that? Again, this is another part that I preferred in Dhanoa’s version where Bhagat spoke to his parents about his commitment, rather then to the girl. Also, I was happy in Dhanoa’s version that Bhagat was not shown shying away and giggling at the mention of his could-be- fiancé when with his friends. I felt RKS was trying to give too much importance to the fiancé-angle just for some commercial acceptance from the audience!

Director Raj Kumar Santoshi does a brilliant job in extracting some fantastic performances from his cast.

As Bhagat Singh Ajay Devgan does not leave any scope to better the performance – he is perfect! I will not go drawing comparisons between his portrayal and Bobby Deol’s, because I felt Bobby too was absolutely perfect (and had the advantage of actually resembling Bhagat Singh)! Even though I’ve never been disappointed by Ajay’s performances, I still for some reason had my reservations about seeing him portray this role. Thankfully though, I was proven wrong and Ajay once again excels and churns out a fantastically natural and convincing performance.

All the other actors excel too. Sushant Singh is amazing and D.Santosh leaves a huge impact as Rajguru! Akhilendra Mishra delivers a natural performance, and in fact all the other actors portraying the roles of freedom fighters also make a good impression with their performances. Amrita Rao has no true purpose and stands around in the background of many frames, acting like a mere plank! Last but not least, Raj Babbar & Farida Jailal are in full form as always.

Overall, Raj Kumar Santoshi delivers a brilliant film, as he most often does. I’m glad I finally got around to watching it and I would recommend it to the other few people who’ve yet to see it also! If I were rating the film out of 10 I’d give it a 8, I would easily have given it a 9 but the soundtrack is so disappointing (I actually felt like puking whenever the songs came, and surely that’s not a good thing in a patriotic musical where the songs should make you feel all emotional etc), so yeah I’ll stick with 8/10 – fantastic film!