Biopic On ‘Shaheed Shirishkumar’ In Marathi Is Being Made

Jyothi Venkatesh

The freedom which we enjoy has been made possible by the martyrdom of countless warriors. Their contribution is very important. Turning the pages of history, we see the names of innumerable persons, whose love for the nation and their sacrifice is evident. To free the country, the contribution of numerous freedom fighters has been invaluable.During the freedom struggle, in 1942, Mahatma Gandhi had launched the “Quit India’ movement. Many people, from young to old, had taken active part in the campaign. A young fifteen year old revolutionary from Nandurbar, ‘Shirishkumar Mehta’ accepted martyrdom. To rouse the memory of this martyr, a Marathi movie ‘Shaheed Shirishkumar’, is being produced by Bhavesh Productions. On the remembrance day of Shirishkumar, the announcement of the movie was made at the ‘Shaheed Shirishkumar Memorial’ in Nandurbar. The movie based on a true life story, will be directed by Nandurbar based Mr. Bhavesh Patil. Director Bhavesh Patil, producer Madhuri Wadalkar  present.

On 9^th September,1942, at Nandurbar there was a ‘Quit India’ rally in the morning. Shirishkumar Mehta and his friends had participated in the rally. Chanting ‘Vande Mataram’, Shirishkumar was in the forefront leading the procession. Paying scant regard to the opposition of the police, Shirishkumar kept on chanting ‘Bharatmata ki jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’. Finally the police opened fire. During the firing Shirishkumar collapsed on the spot, but did not leave the flag till the end. Along with Shirishkumar, his friends Dhansukhlal Vani, Ghanshyam Das, Shashidhar Kelkar and Laldas Shah too attained martyrdom.In order to acquaint the present generation of the sacrifices of these martyrs, Bhavesh Patil has taken the challenge of directing the movie. Bhavesh Patil said that the permission to produce the movie was given by Shirishkumar’s sister Anuradha Thakore and her husband Umesh Thakore, who have promised to provide necessary co-operation whenever needed.