New Delhi, October 28: Shoojit Sarkar’s film Sardar Udham has been denied India’s sponsorship for the 2022 Oscars because it “projects hatred toward the British”. The hearts of the Indian jury bled for the British who had ordered the massacre of hundreds of peaceful Indian protesters at Jalianwala Bagh in Punjab in 1919 and not for those killed.
The film follows the life of Sardar Udham Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter. He is best known for assassinating Michael O’Dwyer in London to take revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in Punjab.
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Michael O’Dwyer was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, British India between 1913 and 1919. It was during O’Dwyer’s tenure that the Jallianwala Bagh massacre occurred where British troops opened fire at peaceful protestors until their ammunition was exhausted. Estimates of those killed varied from 379 to 1500.
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Following the massacre the Nobel Prize winning Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore, returned his knighthood. In November 1913, Tagore learned he had won that year’s Nobel Prize in Literature for his work: Gitanjali: Song Offerings. He was awarded a knighthood by King George V in the 1915 Birthday Honours. But Tagore renounced it after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Renouncing the knighthood, Tagore wrote a letter addressed to Lord Chelmsford, the then British Viceroy of India saying: “The disproportionate severity of the punishments inflicted upon the unfortunate people and the methods of carrying them out, we are convinced, are without parallel in the history of civilised governments…The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part wish to stand, shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of my country men.”
On the denial of sponsorship for the Oscars, Hindustan Times says: Days after India’s official entry for Oscars was announced, jury members have explained why one of the most popular contenders was not selected. Talking about Shoojit Sircar’s Sardar Udham, Indraadip Dasgupta has said that the film ‘portrays our hatred towards the British’.
Indraadip Dasgupta, a member of the jury that decided upon the official entry for Oscars this year, told a leading daily, “Sardar Udham is a little lengthy and harps on the Jallianwala Bagh incident. It is an honest effort to make a lavish film on an unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle. But in the process, it again projects our hatred towards the British. In this era of globalization, it is not fair to hold on to this hatred.” He added that the film’s production lives up to international standards and praised the cinematography of the film as well.
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Another member of the jury, Sumit Basu, also said, “Many have loved Sardar Udham for its cinematic quality including camerawork, editing, sound design and depiction of the period. I thought the length of the film was an issue. It has a delayed climax. It takes a lot of time for a viewer to feel the real pain for the martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.”
Shoojit Sircar’s Sardar Udham traces the life and struggles of Sardar Udham Singh, a freedom fighter who is best known for killing Michael O’Dwyer in retaliation for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Udham shot O’Dwyer at Caxton Hall in London when the latter was to speak at a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society.
Their comments have attracted passionate responses from fans online. One of them wrote, “‘Not hold on to this hatred’? Of course we won’t, if you promise to not hold on to Kohinoor and the approximately $45 trillion that was robbed from India .” Another one wrote, “Suppression of the Truth! As always!” Another wrote, “Isn’t it casting reality. What if it was a movie on World War 1 or 2 …you would reject it because it depicts the reality of Hitler’s Germany?”
One fan also wrote, “Whether Sardar Udham deserves an entry or not is a different question, but to dismiss on such grounds displays nothing but racism and power dynamics. Globalisation doesn’t mean we cannot raise our voices against historical injustice anymore. So many sociopolitical movements around the world would cease to exist then. I guess “globalisation” hadn’t been an issue when Lagaan and Rang De Basanti were nominated.”
The Film Federation of India decided to send the Tamil film Koozhangal (Pebbles), directed by filmmaker Vinothraj PS, as India’s official entry for the 94th Academy Awards. The movie features newcomers Chellapandi and Karuththadaiyaan.
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