Randeep Hooda's Stellar Performance Elevates Swatantra Veer Savarkar

Randeep Hooda is a chameleon. He seemingly shape-shifts to play any character and gets in to its skin. A few years ago, his physical transformation to play Sarbjit (2015) was highly commendable. In 2024, Hooda plays Swatantra Veer Savarkar with such gut and gumption, that it is difficult to believe he is acting. The physical as well as emotional transformation is indeed award worthy. And I mean awards which arent bartered for a stage performance!!!

Donning the cap of the director as well as main lead, Randeep Hooda takes us through the unknown or (deliberately) omitted history of India's freedom struggle, which had many strong contributors like Veer Savarkar. 

Narrated linearly, the film starts with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's early family life, his trip to England to study law, his secret society called Abhinav Bharat and his unsuccessful escape to France. The 'Kala pani' jail sequences are most harrowing portions of the movie and accurately highlights the extreme hardships faced by the inmates there.

Hooda chooses not to be completely anecdotal but instead, dwells deep in to the ideology of Veer Savarkar and his concept of Hindutva as well as Akhand Bharat are elaborately explained. The rationale behind Savarkar's mercy petitions, which are still debated, is properly depicted.

On the flipside, the film vilifies Gandhi and portrays him as an opportunistic politician, who openly resorted to minority appeasement. In one scene, Savarkar is actually surprised to know Gandhi has grown so big in India within a short period. "Itna bada ban gaya woh", he wonders!!

Technically, Swatantra Veer Savarkar could've been better. The use of minimum lighting and dark frames was easily avoidable. Performance wise, Ankita Lokhande is brilliant as Savarkar's wife Yamuna Bai. Amit Sial is equally impressive as his brother Ganesh. Finally, it is Randeep Hooda, who steals the show and deserves full marks for his touching portrayal of Veer Savarkar.

Swatantra Veer Savarkar is a must watch to understand and evaluate the slice of Indian freedom struggle, which was omitted in our school textbooks. It is not everyone's cup of chai though!!

Ratings on some key aspects* :
1. Acting : 5/5
2. Direction : 4/5
3. Music : 3.5/5
4. Story, Screenplay and Dialogue : 4/5
5. Cinematography : 2.5/5
6. Editing : 3/5
7. Costume Design : 4/5
8. Special Effects and VFX : 3/5
9. Action : NA
10. Production Quality : 3.5/5

#SNRating for #SwatantraVeerSavarkar : 4 stars out of 5.

- Sumeet Nadkarni

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* - The overall film rating is not a simple average of all ratings on key aspects but a weighted average of the ratings where some crucial aspects (like direction, acting, story and screenplay etc) are assigned more weightage than others.

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#SNRatings barometer:
1 star = Poor
1 & 1/2 star = Below average/ Avoidable
2 stars = Average
2 & 1/2 stars = Above average/ Risk it
3 stars = Good enough/ Endurable
3 & 1/2 stars = Definitely worth a watch
4 stars = Very good
5 stars = Masterpiece/ Outstanding.

2024 SNRatings.