Movie Review: Raag Desh – A tale of patriotism

Movie Review: Raag Desh
Rating: 3/5
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast Kunal Kapoor, Mohit Marwah, Amit Sadh, Mrudula Murali

Raag Desh deals with the story of the historical Red Fort Trials of 1945 where three Indian National Army. Three INA officers Major General Shah Nawaz Khan, Lt Col Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Lt Col Prem Sahgal were court-martialed for allegedly waging war against the British Indian Army between September to 1942 and April 1945 with charges of murder and abutment to murder against them.

Writer-Director Tigmanshu Dhulia has chosen to narrate an incredibly interesting anecdote from our freedom struggle. The hard work of his four-member research team and two-member writing team is evident, even if the movie feels similar to 1992’s A Few Good Men in treatment. Whether the story needed to be told in a non-linear fashion is debatable, but it mostly gets the point across. In a lot of ways, it educates you about the socio-political climate of the time. However, its educational quality is its bane. Follow Spotlife Asia for the latest Entertainment and Lifestyle news.

Keeping up with the traditional characteristic of a war drama, Tigmanshu Dhulia’s film is an unflinching story of gore, gun shots and blood. It is a narrative that is woven in the clean and systematic environment of a courtroom but takes flight on the battlefield. Cinematographer Rishi Punjabi captures the looming fear of the enemy and the stifling confines of a courtroom through shots that allow details to emerge.

The war scenes are plentiful but you can’t help seeing the clunkiness, and the back-and-forthing between the past and present is not as clear as it could be, given the complexity of the events the film is trying to unravel: it was a time when the Allies and the Axis forces were trying to save the world from Hitler, and India was on the cusp of ‘azaadi’.  Making the three INA soldiers represent the religious diversity of the Indian people could have been a wonderful device, given the times we are passing through, but it comes off clichéd.

Dhulia ensures authenticity in his storytelling by retaining the multiplicity of languages in a film that has British, Punjabi, Tamil, Japanese, Bengali and Burmese characters. The three lead actors embody their patriotic characters with adequate amount of fervor. Basumatary in his short role plays Netaji Bose with conviction. But a special mention to Kenneth Desai, playing the acclaimed lawyer Bhulabhai Desai, who delivers lengthy courtroom arguments while trying to retain the audience’s attention.

Kunal Kapoor delivers an average performance as Major General Shah Nawaz Khan. He is an excellent actor but appears too casual. Amit Sadh delivers a good performance as Lt Col Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon. Mohit Marwah is my favourite from this film. What a performance! He is super impressive in the avatar of Lt Col Prem Sahgal. Kenny Desai as Bhulabhai Desai steals the show in this film. His courtroom monologue is the best scene in the film. Kenny Basumatary as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose does a good job in his limited role.

A patriotic story of revolt against the British, Raag Desh is bound to glorify war and murder, and in doing so it stirs nationalistic sentiments through dialogues and music, but thankfully doesn’t fall into the trap of establishing national identity based on religion. In that regard, it emphasizes on the representation of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims as well women in the rebellion.