‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’ movie review: Sara Ali Khan leads this fancy dress show

The Kannan Iyer film makes some timely observations on how curbs on communication can keep the masses disoriented but the uneven treatment dilutes the impact

When radios were airing Winston Churchill’s mann ki baat and the Congress leadership was incarcerated, an intrepid, young Usha Mehta (Sara Ali Khan) came up with the idea of a covert radio station to reignite the Quit India Movement by instilling patriotic fervour through airwaves. This unsung but important strand of the Indian freedom movement is undone by heavy-handed treatment in Kannan Iyer’s Ae Watan Mere Watan.

For a subject where there is a lot to relate with the present times when electronic media makes or breaks movements and governments, the film’s emotional notes sound either superficial or a little too earnest for a large part. Instead of taking us to the period, the well-meaning venture unspools like a fancy dress show where actors seemingly read out their character sketches from cue cards. In an attempt to connect with the digital generation, it loses the veracity of the time it seeks to recreate.

The start is particularly stagy where Usha, shackled by the love of her father (Sachin Khedekar), a judge devoted to the Raj, is struggling to choose between her family and motherland. The two talk in the affected tone of a television commercial so much that when Usha laments to her friend that she didn’t know that doing the right thing would hurt so much, one wonders why saying the right thing would demand such decoration.

In her bid to portray the earnestness of the character, Sara resorts to chipmunkish behaviour. Here, it is reflected in her expressions and body language. The portion where Usha spurns the romantic advances of her compatriot Kaushik (Abhay Verma) and adopts celibacy is clunkily written and performed, hardly giving us insight into Usha Mehta’s mindscape.

However, gradually, in the company of Sparsh Srivastav, playing a polio-afflicted freedom fighter named Fahad, she settles into the role and, more importantly, the period. Towards the end, they create a heart-tugging scene where the incompleteness of a woman in our society is linked to that of a disabled person. Sparsh who was excellent in Laapataa Ladies follows it up with the supporting act of a Muslim freedom fighter who picks country over partition.

The writing of Darab Farooqui and Kannan is not without potential and the duo makes some valid observations. When the film talks about how the British government controlled the big media and how the radio spread lies, it rings a bell. So does the need for sach ki ghutti (potion of truth) when opium is being fed. Or when it underlines the centrality of funds in bringing about a revolution.

Without pandering to an agenda, the film underscores that much before the current regime took on Jawaharlal Nehru’s idea of India, there was his comrade Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (Emraan Hashmi) who stood up against blind devotion and obeisance. The socialist icon who championed politics of social justice and inspired a generation of politicians hasn’t received his due in popular culture. The film attempts to correct the anomaly and Emraan, in an extended guest appearance, brings alive the honest demeanour of the leader. The thought that a tyranny needs to be fought irrespective of the result leaves a mark and so does the defense of his means which are not entirely Gandhian.