The Legend of Bhagat Singh

The film follows Bhagat Singh from childhood to his execution in 1931 at the age of twenty three. What it puts at the centre is not armed action but the courtroom: on trial, Singh and his comrades refuse to defend themselves, convert the dock into a political platform and go on hunger strike. Rajkumar Santoshi's film pulls the independence story away from the Gandhi centred reading, which is not a common stance in Indian cinema, and that is where its political weight comes from. Ajay Devgn takes the lead. Something strange happened in 2002: four separate films about Bhagat Singh opened that year. The crowd split all of their audiences. Santoshi's did not perform commercially, but it won the National Film Award for best Hindi film and best actor for Devgn. Its flaws: close to three hours, a preaching register in places, and songs that interrupt the flow. Who it is for: viewers interested in Indian independence history and political biography. Who it is not for: anyone expecting an even handed portrait.