Anubhav Sinha, Ketan Mehta unite for freedom fighter Usha Mehta’s biopic Freedom Radio

Anubhav Sinha and Ketan Mehta have come together for a biopic on the life of freedom fighter Usha Mehta. The film is titled Freedom Radio.

Filmmakers Ketan Mehta and Anubhav Sinha have come together for a very special project - a biopic on the life of freedom fighter Usha Mehta. Titled Freedom Radio, the film will be helmed by Ketan, while Anubhav will be producing it under his production banner, Benaras Mediaworks.

While we wait for Anubhav Sinha's Anek, the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer, here's some good news for fans of the ace filmmaker. He is collaborating with maverick director Ketan Mehta on a special project, a biopic, titled Freedom Radio, based on the life of freedom fighter Usha Mehta. Anubhav, however, won't don the director's hat this time. While Anubhav will produce it under his banner, Benaras Mediaworks, Ketan will helm the project.

In a media statement about the biopic, Ketan Mehta said, "Developing this story has been pure joy. Sifting through her personal diaries, and delving into my own memories have been a crucial part of work. I couldn't have found a more supportive producer and collaborator than Anubhav who understands the vision of his filmmaker."

Talking about collaborating with Ketan Mehta, Anubhav Sinha said, "It's been a sheer joy working with Ketan on this project. I was taken in by Usha Mehta's courage and grit. It's the kind of patriotism that we need to revisit in today's day and age."

Talking about the film, Ketan said, "It's a film about the spirit of freedom. Set in the pre-independence era, the film's narrative captures a forgotten but crucial chapter in the Indian freedom struggle, the 'Quit India movement'. In 1942 when Mahatma Gandhi announced the Quit India movement, the final battle of the Indian freedom struggle, the British government arrested all the top (Congress) leadership including Gandhi, (Sardar Vallabhbhai) Patel, (Maulana Abul Kalam) Azad, and (Jawaharlal) Nehru in a midnight swoop. The movement was rendered leaderless. All news was blocked and censored, all protests were banned. That is when the youth of India came forward to take charge and lead the freedom movement forward."

Freedom fighter Usha Mehta was instrumental in India's freedom struggle, especially during the Quit Indian Movement in 1942. She started a secret radio station, Secret Congress Radio, that would broadcast messages from Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders across India.

Talking about Usha's contribution to India's freedom movement, Ketan Mehta said, "Usha Mehta, a 22-year-old student, galvanised a team of fellow students to counter the British. They established a secret, underground radio station. At great personal risk and under constant threat they continued to provide the true news of the freedom struggle to the people of India and kept the spirit of freedom going.