Ajay Bhardwaj
It was in 1963 that the then RSS Sarsanghchalak Guruji entrusted the responsibility of raising the Vivekananad Rock memorial at Kanyakumari to Eknath Ranade ji, who was then Akhil Bharatiya Bauddhik Pramukh and had just authored a book, “Hey Hindu Rashtra, Utishtha! Jaagrat!!” dedicated to Swami Vivekananda. This charted a new course of his life and for the next 20 years, Eknathji diligently worked to spread Vivekanand’s message of nation-building.
On August 11,1963, he took over as the founder organising secretary of the Vivekananada Rock Memorial committee, and launched a campaign to acquire land for the memorial. For this he mustered up support from political leaders of all spectrum, built up a team of dedicated workers and set the ball rolling for the monumental task.
And he would say, “To put up a cement and concrete structure is not the work for which I am born, I am to erect a living and dynamic monument which will be worthy of Swami Vivekananda and which will be capable of bringing into fruition his grand vision of future India.”
Initial hiccups did not deter Eknathji one bit. In order to build consensus in favour of the construction of the memorial Eknathji camped in Delhi, collected the signatures of 323 Members of Parliament to take final consent from Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. Thereafter, he land in Kanyakumari to establish the headquarters of Vivekananda Kendra known as Vivekanandapuram.
He believed that since the memorial was a national monument, every Indian should be invited to contribute to its construction. He approached almost every State government and asked for its contribution, making a special effort to go to the north-eastern states of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh so that they could also feel to be a part of the national endeavor. A major chunk of the contributions came from the general public as Eknathji launched a campaign of one-rupee folders throughout the country, which were used to mobilise donations of the common man.
Within the unbelievably short period of six years, the Vivekananda Rock Memorial was ready and it was dedicated to the nation in September, 1970, by then President VV Giri.
For the next 12 years Eknathji tirelessly went around setting up Vivekananda Kendras all over the country. This Yeoman”s service to spread Vivekanada”s message took a heavy toll on his health and left him frail.In 1980 he fainted and collapsed while walking. Yet he was tireless. In 1982, before breathing his last, he set up Vivekananda International Centre and left indelible footprints for the generations to follow.
Eknathji – Ek Jeevan Ek Dhyeya (Eknathji—One Life, One Mission), a biographical documentary directed by Sudarshan A is a humble tribute to the glorious life.
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Excerpts from an interview with Film Director Sudarshan A:
What inspired you to make this film?
The year 2014 was the centenary of Eknathji when this thought of a biopic came up to Kendriya adhikaris. I was in the picture by chance since I was a full timer of Delhi Vivekanand kendra for 5 years and I was also well established having done several television shows for almost all the major Tamil regional television channels.
When we started discussing this project sometime in June-July 2014, the idea was to create a visual aid to support the centenary celebrations of Eknathji. In fact in the first discussion, almost everyone was opposed to the idea of any actor donning the role of Eknathji. If at all some depictions were to be done, limited to portrayal of the childhood and young Eknathji, not the elderly one as he is fresh in the minds of many Karykartas of all ages the way he is seen in the photographs. Initially, the idea was to bring out a 45 minute documentary with photographs and testimonials from elderly karyakartas. But as the script was finalized it was realised that it would shape up into a full-fledged film.
 “I hardly knew RSS before taking up the role. In course of shooting I got conversant with it, and that has humbled me —Ajay Rohilla”
How long did you take to make it?
We finalised the script in August 2014. The first schedule was in the month of October. We stitched a trailer immediately after the first schedule and released during the centenary celebrations in New Delhi on Nov 9 which the Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modiji attended. It took almost 9 months to complete shooting. We shot in Kanyakumari, Chennai, Nagpur, Indore, Kolkatta and Arunachal Pradesh.
We had one private screening for the Kendra Adhikaris in September 2015. At that time the film was 2 hours, 15 minutes in length. But later it was reduced to 100 minutes. The final version was first screened in March 2016 at an all-India Adhikari baithak at Kanyakumari where some of them, who had worked with Eknathji, were present as well. After they gave a green signal, we worked on the English version for South India and overseas audience.
Finally, the first show was screened at Chandigarh in the presence of Hon’ble Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Sah Sarkarvvah Dattatreya Hosable ji and all-India Prachar Pramukh Manmohan Vaidya ji.
Besides you, how many persons were involved in its making?
The funds for the film were raised by Vivekananda Kendra and film was produced by Full Pumpkin Media, Chennai. Nivedita Didi and I finalised the script.
Then we put the cast together. Most important was of course the senior Eknathji. It was not easy to get the right person who could carry the personality of Eknathji on screen. It was in this department, Shyam Rawat, a senior cast director who toiled for nearly 2 months doing the screen tests for the right Eknathji. And finally the choice fell on Ajay Rohilla, a Marathi theatre artist.
When he got dressed up—made up for the first time, and walked in the Kanyakumari campus, a couple of octogenarians who first saw him were dumbfounded. Tears started rolling thinking that Eknathji had come alive. Not only the resemblance, but Ajay Rohilla’s screen helped immensely in portraying the personality of Eknathji.
For the cast we had to find resemblances for many political personalities and some living Karyakartas like Nivedita Didi. All fell in place quite well. We had around 50 persons acting in minor roles from Nagpur. For the scenes that involved portrayal of RSS camps and the Satyagraha ensuing the ban on RSS after Mahatma Gandhiji’s assassination, we involved around more than 500 swayamsevaks from Nagpur.
What are the earlier films that you have made?
This is my first film. To double up as producer and director in the first of such a project was a task. Before I took up this project, I have been doing several television projects and corporate productions. I have more than 1000 hours of my content aired in all major Tamil regional channels.
Do you intend to make a film on any other RSS functionary?
With regards to RSS functionaries, lives of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Deen Dayal Upadhyayaji and Dattopant Tengadiji fascinate me. If someone comes up with funds, I’ll happily take plunge into any of the four projects.
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