REVIEW: HERO OF THE NATION CHANDRA SHEKHAR AZAD

Producer- Bloomfair Production

Directors- Dhiraj Mishra and Raja Randeep Giri

Star Cast- Ahmad Kabir Shadan, Riitu Sood, Raza Murad , Zarina Wahab , Pradeep Kabra Kavita Thakur, and Puneet Agarwal

Genre- Patriotic

Platform of Release- Theatrical

Rating- **1/2

On Revisiting Chandra Shekhar Azad's freedom struggle!

Jyothi Venkatesh

We all know that Chandra Shekhar Azad was a great freedom fighter who led the freedom revolutionary movement of India and along with Bhagat Singh and others he had created a revolutionary organization and given a tough challenge to the British .

After the arrest of Bhagat Singh and team and due to some inside traitor, his organization got disintegrated but steadfastly till his last breath, he continued to contribute to the freedom of our country.

Directed by Dhiraj Mishra and Raja Randeep Giri, the film, set in 1921, as the title indicates, is based on the life of the Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad, who is played by Ahmad Kabir Shadan.

Azad was a revolutionary, who like his associates Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, waged war on the British. The film seeks to recreate his life from his childhood till his death on 27 February 1931.

Azad's life was full of mysteries, but unfortunately very little information is available about his personal life through his fellow revolutionaries and books written by them.

This film sets out to introduce us to the noteworthy persons from Azad’s life like his family ties and bonding with the other freedom fighters like revolutionary Durga Bhabhi, Vishwanath, as well as the various interesting personality traits of Azad himself.

Ahmad Kabir Shadan who plays the title role of Chandra Shekhar Azad is very ordinary in the title role and his weak voice is a major minus point. Raza Murad is fair as Azad’s father, Sitaram Tiwari.

Zarina Wahab acts ably in the role of Azad’s mother, Jagrani Devi. Ritu Sood is good as Durga Bhabhi.

Vivek Anand Mishra (as Bhagat Singh), Vivek Tripathi (as Rajguru), Prashant Rai (as Sukhdev), Anuj Mishra (as Yashpal), Navneet Singh (as Bhagwandas Mahaur), Pradeep Kabra, Manjesh Pandey (as Manmath Nath Gupta), Tarakesh Chauhan, Prachi Bohra, Kavita Thakur, Navee Rautela and Gaurav Roopdas lend routine support. Journalist turned actor Virendra Mishra is good in a brief appearance.

Music by Arun Dev Yadav is soothing and catchy especially the song Hum Likhenge Lahoo Se

On the whole, though the attempt to make a film based on the life and times of Chandra Shekhar Azad who was a visionary and the hero of the nation is laudable, the execution leaves a lot to be desired as the film lacks technically at times and is also tacky to the core, especially for those who have earlier watched Rajkumar Santoshi's film on Shaheed Bhagat Singh .

However the film will certainly appeal to those who are fond of patriotism and sail through in small centers though not in big cities as well as the multiplexes