Udham Singh - One man's revolutionary...

 

Sardar Udham

2021

Director: Shoojit Sircar

Udham Singh: Vicky Kaushal

Inspector Swain: Stephen Hogan

Michael O' Dwyer: Shaun Scott

Reshma: Banita Sandhu

Koppikar: Ritesh Shah

Be it known for the record that we are referring to the assassination of Mr. Michael Dwyer, ICS, not General Reginald Dyer.  But, the fact the two names are similar only lends to their conspiring to "teach a lesson to Gandhi" by massacring tens of thousands of people at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1919.

The confusion in the names does not confuse the film.  Udham Singh is a nuanced and visceral look at a time when the people of India were united in struggle for freedom, when law defined morality, and when the government of a small island nation determined the fate of the world.  One cannot imagine that under British rule, humanity could have been this vulgar.

In the middle of all this is Mr. Kaushal's character, Udham Singh.  Mr. Kaushal deserves accolades for his portrayal. He is at moments, innocent, at other moments reflective, and at all moments, poised.  His is award-winning acting, at a level where we can sense he is feeling every moment of what he plays out.  Indeed, in an interview, Mr. Kaushal has stated that he was not acting; Udham Singh took over his soul.

Opposite him, Mr. Hogan plays first and foremost a cop, but next a human being. He knows the inevitable end for his prisoner, but is humane enough to offer a compassionate glance at him.

Our inevitable slavery is to a different empire, one which makes us to forget how our forefathers once united under a common goal.  Sadly, there is no room for those to remind us, no room for Ram Mohammed Singh Azad.

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐