Vicky Kaushal starrer film ‘Sardar Udham’, directed by Shoojit Sircar, has made an important place in Indian cine history. The film is a biopic based on the life of revolutionary Sardar Udham Singh, who shot Michael O’Dwyer at a gathering to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Since the release of this film, there was a demand to send it to the Oscars. Cinema pundits were also convinced that the film had the potential to win an Oscar.
After this, when the films started being selected for the Oscar Award, it also got a place in the top 14, but the selection committee at the last minute decided to send the Tamil film ‘Kozhangal’ to the 94th Oscar. After this the fans of the film became very disappointed and angry. But the most surprising was when a member of the selection committee explained the reason behind the film ‘Sardar Udham’ not being selected. He has given such a reason, which is not being embraced by anyone.
In fact, Indradeep Dasgupta, a member of the committee that selected the official entry for the Oscar Awards, has said that the film ‘Sardar Udham’ exposes our hatred against the British. We did not want to send any such film to the Oscars, which has a sense of hatred against anyone. He said in a conversation with Hindustan Times, “Sardar Udham is dependent on a much longer film and Jallianwala Bagh incident. It is a sincere attempt to make a grand film on an unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle, but in the process it exposes our hatred of the British. It is not a good thing to keep so much hatred in this era of globalization. However, I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that the film has been made of international standard.
Fans are quite upset by the jury’s decision.
“Sardar Udham was rejected for Oscar nomination by an [Indian Jury] stating it has ‘too much hatred for British.’” said Students’ Federation of India’s joint secretary, Dipsita Dhar.
“This film [shows] hatred for imperialism but not for any particular race. This film was about freedom and how far our revolutionaries went on, and this is what we give in return?” Dhar questioned.
Supreme court advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha wrote: “I haven’t watched #SardarUdham yet however logic behind rejecting the movie for Oscar Nomination is problematic.”
He added: “These people must be removed from their posts. Freedom fighters like Sardar Udham are our icons who sacrificed everything for this country. We can’t let them down.”