23rd March 1931: Shaheed

23rd March 1931: Shaheed
Poster
Directed by	Guddu Dhanoa
Produced by	Dharmendra
Written by	Sanjay Masoom (dialogues)
Screenplay by	Sutanu Gupta
Starring	Bobby Deol Sunny Deol Amrita Singh Rahul Dev Suresh Oberoi Shakti Kapoor Divya Dutta
Music by	Songs: Anand Raj Anand Score: Surinder Sodhi
Cinematography	Thiru
Edited by	Keshav Naidu
Production company	Vijayta Films
Release dates	7 June 2002 (2002-06-07)
Running time	186 min.
Country	India
Language	Hindi

23rd March 1931: Shaheed is a 2002 Hindi film directed by Guddu Dhanoa which depicts the events leading up to the hanging of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and his companions Rajguru and Sukhdev on 23 March 1931. The film stars Bobby Deol as Bhagat Singh, his elder brother Sunny Deol as Chandrashekhar Azad and Amrita Singh in her comeback role as Bhagat Singh's mother. Aishwarya Rai has a special appearance in a song.

This is the second time real-life brothers Sunny and Bobby Deol appear in a film together after Dillagi (1999). They later appeared together again in several films like Apne (2007), Heroes (2011) and Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011).

The film's release coincided with another film based on Bhagat Singh directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and titled The Legend of Bhagat Singh. Both films bombed at the box office and were both declared disasters.^[1] However both were critically appreciated. The film picked up a Zee Cine Technical Award for Best Art Direction by Nitish Roy. Simple Kapadia, the costume designer of the movie also distinguished herself with a perfect replica of the 1930s costumes, making the movie even more realistic.

Plot

Set in 1931, British India, the film tells the story of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad who have only motive in mind: Freedom for India. They set about doing this task together with two other men, Sukhdev and Rajguru. Bhagat Singh is enraged when his mentor Lala Lajpatrai is mercilessly beaten to death by the police, and he sets about to avenge his death. He and his colleagues do succeed in killing one of the officials responsible, but they are identified and as a result Bhagat and Rajguru are arrested and held in prison where they are tortured relentlessly.

When produced in court, they dramatically admit to the killing and state that it was done in the name of Freedom. The judge and the public prosecutor do not see it that their way and they are sentenced to life in prison. Bhagat's mother, Vidya, comes to meet him in prison, and he goes to greet her, shackled in chains from head to toe, and he foretells that India will continue to suffer, even after Independence from the British, and that he will return in another birth to free his motherland. Subsequently, all three are charged with treason and assassination and are sentenced to Immortality

Cast

• Bobby Deol as Bhagat Singh
• Sunny Deol as Chandrashekhar Azad
• Amrita Singh as Vidya (Bhagat Singh's mother)
• Rahul Dev as Sukhdev
• Vicki Ahuja as Rajguru
• Divya Dutta as Durga Bhabhi
• Vivek Shauq as Bhagwati Charan Vohra
• Sachin Khedekar as Advocate Asaf Ali
• Suresh Oberoi as Jailor Chaddha
• Shakti Kapoor as Chattar Singh
• Aishwarya Rai in a Special appearance
• Raja Bundela as Lala Lajpat Rai
• Akshay Anand as Ram Prasad Bismil
• Suresh Chatwal as Kishori Lal
• Imran Khan as Kartar Singh Sarabha
• Deepak Sharma as Jatindra Nath Das
• Sanjay Tripathi as Hansraj Vohra
• Rana Jung Bahadur as Lawyer
• Tej Sapru as Dilbag Singh
• Indal Singh as Jaigopal
• Samaresh Routray as Yashpal

Box-Office

23rd March 1931: Shaheed was released on 7 June 2002 on the same day when The legend of Bhagat Singh was released the film opened well but dropped quickly at the box office and was declared an flop at the box office. But the movie was well appreciated.

Casting Department

Samir Khan Vinod & Company

Awards

• Zee Cine Award Best Art Direction - Nitish Roy

Soundtrack

References

External links

• 23rd March 1931: Shaheed at the Internet Movie Database