Review of the film Ae Watan Mere Watan: Sparsh Srivastav is the breakout star in this Sara Ali Khan movie. He proved that his performance in “Laapataa Ladies,” which was fantastic, was not an anomaly.
1942 is the year. The subcontinent’s resistance to British rule is at its height: Mahatma Gandhi is about to deliver his famous “do or die” speech, which will serve as a rallying cry for the other notable freedom fighters and the general populace, who are rallying for one last effort to drive the invaders out.
However, as young Usha Mehta (Sara Ali Khan), the daughter of a barrister (Sachin Khedekar) who disapproves of her desh-bhakti activities, finds out, it won’t be an easy feat. The Quit India movement’s leaders are incarcerated. To break the back of the revolutionaries, the British rulers used torture in prison and acts of violence in the streets. Usha comes up with the idea of utilizing the radio as a tool of revolt alongside her close friends and fellow young patriots, Fahad (Sparsh Srivastav) and Kaushik (Abhay Verma), who harbors affection for her.
If executed flawlessly, this little-known chapter of our recent past would have provided us with an intense story and a main character we could root for. The true problem for filmmakers handling this turbulent age, which has seen so many cinematic versions, will always be to bring new life to well-known facts. And Ae Watan Mere Watan had a ready-made, powerful weapon: a young woman who had grown up with a loving but stern father and a helpful aunt, who had broken free and stood up for her nation and herself.
However, nothing about this historical drama deviates from accepted tropes. You lose hope as soon as the film opens with young Usha gazing up at a row of Siberian cranes, allowing her father to deliver a sonorous speech about, indeed, discovering her wings. This is because the dialogue, general writing, treatment, and plotline are all bland blurs. O’Neill stalks around, nailing the officer-barking-orders role, drowning out the only fascinating part, which is the police playing a game of cat and mouse with the young radio operators. We also never get over the impression that the entire thing is one big set.
Sara Ali Khan, who plays the title part, doesn’t make much of an impression because her outfit—plain salwar kameez and sari, plaits, and crimped hair—wears her instead of the other way around. The superb Anand Tiwari is reduced to a prop, a Parsi whose dance prowess is valued more highly than his competence as a master radio engineer who builds the setup that allows the vital broadcasts to be sent. The film’s true appeal is in the character of Ram Manohar Lohia (Emraan Hashmi, making us look, as always), though it’s unclear why. The actors portraying Gandhi and Nehru come and go quickly.
The kid “Krantikari” with polio, Sparsh Srivastav, is the standout performer here. He exudes a subdued sense of patriotism. It is internalized rather than declarative, which makes it potent. He proved that his performance in “Laapataa Ladies,” which was fantastic, was not an anomaly. In a movie that might have and should have been much more than it is, I found myself watching him more than anyone else.
Kanan Iyer is the director of Ae Watan Mere Watan.
Sara Ali Khan, Richie Khedekar, Anand Tiwari, Sparsh Srivastav, Emraan Hashmi, Abhay Verma, and Alexx O’Nell are the cast members.
1.5 out of 5.
