The Legend of Bhagat Singh

Infobox Film
name = The Legend of Bhagat Singh
image_size =
caption =
director = Rajkumar Santoshi
producer = Kumar Taurani
Ramesh S. Taurani
writer = Ranjit Kapoor
Piyush Mishra
Anjum Rajabali
Anjum Rajabali
Rajkumar Santoshi
narrator =
starring = Ajay Devgan,Ian Davies
music = A.R. Rahman
cinematography = K. V. Anand
editing = V.N. Mayekar
distributor =
released = June 7 2002
runtime = 155 mins
country = flagicon|India India
language = Hindi, English, Bengali, Punjabi
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:266227
imdb_id = 0319736

"The Legend of Bhagat Singh" is a Bollywood emotional historic drama movie from India. It is directed by Indian director Rajkumar Santoshi and starring Ian Davies, Ajay Devgan and Sushant Singh. It was released on June 7, 2002. A historical feel in the movie was created by using a sepia tint throughout the entire movie.

The movie shows in details how Bhagat Singh (a freedom fighter) came to develop his views of the British. The movie starts with scenes depiciting how the British tried to dispose of the body of Bhagat Singh, so that he cannot be made into a martyr.

ynopsis

Bhagat was born in British India during the year 1908. As a child he witnessed numerous atrocities committed on fellow Indians by their British rulers, who came to trade under the guise of the East India Company, but ended up controlling most of the nation, and permitting tyrants such as General Dyer to massacre thousands of innocent men, women and children in Jallianwala Baug. As a child he was impressed by Mohandas K. Gandhi, especially his call to launch the non-cooperation movement, which led to thousands of people burning British-made clothing, giving up schools, & college studies, and government jobs - only to be let down by Gandhi himself when he called off the movement. Undaunted, Bhagat decided to be a revolutionary, starting with getting into petty fights, then as a grown-up joining the Hindustan Republic Association. When Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten to death by the police, Bhagat, along with Shivram Rajguru, Sukhdev, and others daringly carried out the assassination of a police officer named Saunders, which eventually led to Bhagat's arrest, where he was lodged in a cell, tortured and beaten mercilessly. His father, Kishan, paid Rs.60,000/- and bailed him out, so that he could get him to run a diary-farm and get married to a girl from Manavali. But being a revolutionary was in Bhagat's blood, and when the British proposed the Trade Disputes and Public Safety Bills, he would initiate the bombing in the Indian Parliament Building, along with Batukeshwar Dutt, be arrested, and tried in an open court. This is where Bhagat launched his much-publicized revolution, and became popular with the masses, especially the younger generation, laborers, and farmers, so much so that his popularity rivaled that of Gandhi himself. Even in prison, Bhagat made headline news when he and other prisoners undertook a 63 day fast unto death to improve the conditions of Indian freedom-fighter prisoners. Then the British re-opened the Saunders' murder case, which led to death sentences being imposed on Bhagat, Shivram, and Sukhdev. The entire nation rose up in protest, including the Congress party - with the ball being in Gandhi's court - for he was due to sign the Irwing Pact, and Indians hoped that he would use this as a bargaining chip to save the lives of the heroic trio. Will Gandhi rise up to the occasion and save the trio - so that they could pave the way for a modern and independent India, not just a country ruled by the British with a dominant status - an India free of communal hatred, injustice, corruption, and fundamentalism, or will Gandhi end up disappointing Bhagat all over again?cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319736/plotsummary|title=IMDB Summary - The Legend of Bhagat Singh]

Soundtrack

Infobox Album
Name = The Legend of Bhagat Singh
Type = Album
Artist = A. R. Rahman


Released = May, 2002 (India)
Recorded =
Genre = Film soundtrack
Length =
Label = Tips
Producer = Ramesh and Kumar Taurani
Reviews =
Last album = "Kannathil Muthamittal" 2002
This album = "The Legend of Bhagat Singh" 2002
Next album = "Baba" 2002|

Lyrics: Sameer

Cast

* Ajay Devgan ... Bhagat Singh
* Ian Davies .....Policeman
* Sushant Singh ... Sukhdev
* Amrita Rao...Mannewali(Cameo Appearance)
* D. Santosh ... Rajguru
* Akhilendra Mishra ... Chandrashekhar Azad
* Jatin Das ....Amitabha Bhattacharyya
* Lord Irwin ....Gil Alon
* Kartar Singh ....Raj Babbar
* Jailor .....Mukesh Tiwari
* Ramprasad Bismil .....Ganesh Yadav
* Fanindranath Ghosh ..... Abir Goswami

Trivia

* Ajay Devgan's performance won him the National Film Award for Best Actor. However, the performance of Ian Davies is considered by many critics to have eclipsed that of Devgan. In particular for its subtlety and the portrayal of the understated angst resulting from the colonial guilt of his character, an English policeman.
* The film's release coincided with another film based on Bhagat Singh, "" which starred Bobby Deol in the lead role as Bhagat Singh.

Notes

External links

*imdb title|id=0319736|title=The Legend of Bhagat Singh