Gour Hari Dastaan, a biopic on 84-year old freedom fighter Gour Hari Das, is a touching narration of denial, apathy of our existing system towards its own people and, the struggle of an ordinary man with extraordinary achievements. The film is must watch for every citizen who wants to understand the fight for indentity in Independent Bharat.
Gour Hari Dastaan, a biopic on 84-year old freedom fighter Gour Hari Das, is a touching narration of denial, apathy of our existing system towards its own people and, the struggle of an ordinary man with extraordinary achievements. The film is must watch for every citizen who wants to understand the fight for indentity in Independent Bharat.
The film, directed by Ananth Mahadevan, is based on a real life story of the journey of a 14-year old Gandhian freedom fighter from Balasore in Odisha to an octogenarian Das in Mumbai through the labyrinth of Bharat’s struggle for freedom, post-Independent Bharat and government’s red-tapism that compel the protagonist to knock each and every door to prove his true identity.
The film tells how Das, an unsung hero of Bharat’s freedom struggle, knocked for 32 years on 321 doors, climbed 66,000 steps, wrote 1,043 letters, pleaded 2,300 times in the post-Independent Bharat just to prove that he was the same Gour Hari Das, whom Mahatma Gandhi had blessed and who was jailed for being a part of the freedom movement against the British Raj.
The biopic says a lot about the perseverance of Das to pursue his fight against injustice and his continued struggle, while simultaneously facing insult, neglect and denial – just for a recognition as a freedom fighter in the form of a Tamrapatra (copper plaque) – official certificate from the government.
“The film is not an emotional journey of Shri Das, but it’s a reflection of our faulty system and post-Independent Bharat’s apathy to give recognition to a man, who fought to make Bharat free from the British. It’s about his fight for a cause, about his second monumental struggle to prove that he was not a fraud but a genuine freedom fighter. ,” Ananth Mahadevan told this correspondent.
Both the director and the lead actor Vinay Pathak have been successful in bringing out the pain and pathos of Das, through various moments in the life of the freedom fighter, without being melodramatic.
On paper, Bharat offers certain benefits to its freedom fighters, as a symbolic thanks for their participation in the nation's struggle. For Das, however, that claim ends up in a second, personal, struggle for him. He finds himself going from office to office, writing numerous letters to claim his rightful pension, and help his son get admission into college. In the process, he ends up being branded a ‘fraud’. Resultantly, the claim takes the back seat and his top priority becomes the battle to prove that he’s not a “fraud”.
Mahadevan has succeeded in silently conveying the emotional turmoil of Das through short dialogues. Like, at the end, tear flows down from the eyes of Das at CM’s office, when the CM hands over the letter of recognition to him. Das comments, “Azad desh ne mere tees saal le liye…British rule mein bahut kuch achcha thaa. Pata to thaa dushman kaun hai” (Independent country has taken away my 30 years…There were several good things during the British rule. At least one knew who the enemy was).
The CM offers him tea and says, “Das ji, chai mein der nahi lagegi” (It won’t take time to serve tea).
In another scene, when the lawyer Mohan Joshi (Rajit Kapoor) and the journalist who takes up his cause (Ranvir Shorey) hand over a diary to Maharashtra Chief Minister (Vikram Gokhale) as a proof of imprisonment of Das in Balasore jail, the CM says, “Kya Karen Das ji, bahut farzee log ghoom rahe hain” (What can we do, there are several fraudsters around).
Lawyer Joshi quips, “If Das is fake, put him in jail. At least British had the guts to do so.”
In this journey of struggle, Das suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. The doctor asks him one question after the other to check the patient’s mental alertness. Pathak, through silence and monologues, has brought out the pain that Das faced in real life, while interacting with the doctor.
What inspired Mahadevan to direct the film?
“There are very few incidences when we meet a person, who truly is a big personality and at same time honest, simple and has done something commendable for the society or the nation. Mr Das is one such living personality and an icon of struggle. That’s why I opted for a journalist rather than a professional film script writer to do the screenplay, who could understand the issues,” Mahadevan added. The journalist CP Surendran has done the film’s screenplay.
Commenting on the making of the film, Das told this correspondent, “Mahadevan paid great importance to minute details and worked upon each and every incident of my life. He used to tell me every alternative day to pen whatever incidents I could remember. He never wanted to miss anything; but I may have missed a few. What the film has shown is true. This is not the independent nation that we had dreamt about.”
Although the film will hit theatres on August 14, the lead actor Vinay Pathak has already bagged the ‘Best Actor’ award at the Extravagant Film Festival in Paris. The film has received wide appreciation abroad and the chances of it making it to the National Film Awards as well are bright.
The film has award winning cast and crew. While, Konkona Sen Sharma has portrayed the role of Lakshmi Das, wife of Gour Hari Das, Ranvir Shorey has played journalist Rajiv Singhal, who broke the story along with Anita (Tannishtha Chatterjee). Saurabh Shukla can be seen as special secretary of Freedom Cell in the film.
The director ensured to have the best in his team with Dr L Subramaniam as music composer, Resul Pookutty (sound designer) and Alphonse Roy (cinematographer).
Debobrat Ghose
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