The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) Reviews

• Excellent representation of one of India's freedom fighters

  raj-chakraberti2004-11-26

  The Legend of Bhagat Singh is a wonderful representation of India, in the middle of its struggle to throw the British out. As with any with movie with a historical basis, I was a nervous that Bollywood would use artistic license to cheapen the story. In fact, the director, Santoshi shows in details how Bhagat came to develop his views of the British with very little outside distraction. Ajay Devgan is excellent as a the title character, bringing the necessary passion that only he can provide with his steel-y stare. Of particular note is the scene showing the freedom fighters telling Gandhi to stop working within the British framework. Westerners can see the parallel between Gandhi's nonviolent methods and the more revolutionary Bhagat Singh with Martin Luther King's methods vs Malcolm X "by any means necessary" credo. As the last reviewer mentioned, it's a great reference for those interested in India's independence struggle and it truly reinvigorated my interest in Indian history. See this movie if you enjoy eastern history, but won't go for the traditional Bollywood flick.

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• A Fantastic Bio-pic on an Intriguing Figure, but Not Without Flaws

  SURJYAKIRAN2002-06-10

  The Legend of Bhagat Singh is one of Indian cinema's most ambitious projects to date. After three years of painstaking research and set construction, veteran film maker Raj Kumar Santoshi and actor Ajay Devgan shot the film in a short stretch of six months. The film released early due to competition from other films dealing with roughly the same subject. Overall it's a pretty solid film but one can't help shake the feeling that it could have been a far superior product if it had been worked on for a short while longer. The film tells the entire life story of Indian freedom fighter and martyr Bhagat Singh who, in a nut shell, grew disillusioned with Gandhi's passive movement and lead an independent violent struggle against the British. Colonial India is recreated magnificently in the film and the British atrocities committed are portrayed with aplomb by the director. One can truly get a sense of how such frustrating conditions could drive youngsters to violence and revolt. Some of the film's strengths are its hard hitting portrayal of British atrocities, its court scenes and its action scenes. The film's biggest highlight is its lead performer, Indian actor Ajay Devgan. The actor single handedly manages to uplift even the most dull and unconvincing scenes in the film to a high quality level. His every expression and mannerism is carefully calculated to maximize his impact on the viewer. This man can move audiences to tears or wide smiles with just a few short lines and quick glances from his intense eyes. His work here is par excellence and can easily rival any work done by any grade-A actors the world over. The supporting cast is good as well, with fellow revolutionary Sukhdev (Indian stage actor Sushant Singh) Bhagat Singh's mother (Indian diva Farida Jalal) leaving lasting impressions as well. The last excellent thing about the movie is the music by renowned composer A.R. Rahman. The music is not as festive as Bollywood movies usually boast, but that's to be expected considering the subject of the film. The well crafted, soothing ethnic tunes manage to evoke the right emotions without seeming rash and distasteful. The film isn't without its weaknesses, however. For one, it's obviously a rushed effort. Segments of the script seem under developed and the impact of certain national tragedies on Bhagat Singh's mindset is never fleshed out as one would want them to be. Also, Bhagat Singh's political ideology (he was a communist, by the way) is never really spelled out for viewers. Instead, they are left to put together pieces for themselves connecting the dots from dialogs and incidents in the film to really figure out the main character's mindset and view points. The second half of the film moves at an awkward pace, sometimes lingering on minute details and other times racing ahead and skipping crucial events (which are referenced in later dialog). Finally, for a film that remains very objective in presenting most events, viewers will be surprised by a very negative portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi and India's first Prime Minister Nehru. This angle of the film stuck out like a sore thumb to say the least. For all its faults however, Legend of Bhagat Singh has plenty of strengths to make it a superb film. It tells a great story with style and conviction. It has wonderful performances including one of finest performances ever in Indian cinema by Devgan. It has great action, moving drama, soothing music, and is (overall) a thoroughly rewarding and entertaining experience. It comes highly recommended by me.

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• Brilliant Film

  sushant_el2004-04-23

  The legend of Bhagat Singh is one of the finest movies of Indian film history.The film shows the lifetime of great freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.The film depicts his life,his struggle and his determination brillantly..The film not only shows the freedom fighter's struggle,but also his ideologies and his idea of a progressive nation and how he moved the entire nation. The photography,the script,the dialogues(power packed and very thought-provoking)everything about this movie is splendid.A lot of research has gone into making this film.Brilliant performance by Ajay Devagan as Bhagat singh,Sushant singh as Sukhdev.Ajay literally lived the freedom fighter's life.The music adds to the film's beauty. Raj Kumar Santoshi's brilliant effort and a fitting tribute to the son of the soil.Bollywood should be proud of this masterpiece.

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• Very intense and thought provoking

  abhi20232005-06-22

  As I preach that comments are and should be taken no more than personal opinion of an individual, I, right at the outset would say that GO, GET & WATCH this masterpiece. The director seems to have done his homework properly. Very realistic sets, appearance of characters. As far as story is concerned or better say truthfulness of the story is concerned, history poses as one of the toughest problem. There is no going back. The conflict between Gandhi's non-violence and Bhagat Singh's Tit for Tat philosophy is one of the most touching points of the movie. It eventually leads to execution of Bhagat Singh. How true is that? I am wondering and will always wonder with hope that either Gandhi or Bhagat Singh would come in my dreams and tell me what the truth was. But nevertheless, it is a great movie to watch which will stir emotions. Ajay as Bhgat Singh is brilliant. He is among the finest actors in India indubitably. The other character that impresses is Sushant Singh who makes an impact with his intense performance. All in all, all have done justice with their characters and fit well. Director did good home work and hence a movie that we should be proud of is out there on someone who is perhaps not internationally as famous as Gandhi but for sure was a great freedom fighter, real patriot and a great son of Mother India.

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• One of the Greatest films from Bollywood.

  anshul132005-05-12

  This film is undoubtedly one of the greatest (for me it is the greatest one) movies from bollywood's basket. Director Rajkumar Santoshi has as usual proved himself as one of the few excellent directors bollywood has.He has done a great task of research before making this film.Each and every department of this movie is just marvelous.Every incident is shown with 100% touch of reality.Everything ,right from sets to dialogues creates the real time of that period.As far as acting is concerned, i think this is the most powerful performance from Ajay Devgan.No surprise he got national award for this film.Other actors in film too deserve 100% appreciation.Sushant Singh has been wonderful, so was Raj Babbar.I wonder why this film was not a blockbuster at box office.Well......we all know why....?it wasn't a rubbish stuffs from badjatya,johar or chopras.Well full marks and thanks to Rajkumar Santoshi for this movie.Must see this film.

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