Atmospherically rich with the periodicity pulsating with nostalgia—the sets look like sets in a good way—Nikkhil Advani’s The Revolutionaries does service to the cause of cinematic nationalism. There is passion throbbing through the veins of the presentation, much more so than in Advani’s earlier trysts with nationalistic destiny in The Empire (which had fallen short not in the scripting but the execution) and Freedom At Midnight (which seemed to be stuck in a time warp).
Apart from a couple of misfires, the performances in The Revolutionaries are robust and full-blooded.
The series is adapted from Sanjeev Sanyal’s bestselling historical book, Revolutionaries: The Other Story Of How India Won Its Freedom. It features a talented young ensemble portraying legendary, lesser-known freedom fighters. Bhuvan Bam stars as Rash Behari Bose, and he is restrained, letting his eyes and nostrils do the talking.
Rohit Saraf as Sachindra Nath Sanyal tries too hard. Sweat is not always conducive to creativity. Gurfateh Pirzada as Bagha Jatin, and Pratibha Ranta as Pratibha Lahiri are in character most of the time, except when they are not. Jason Shah’s Dyer is deadly. Films from the British (Indians and dogs not allowed) genre seem to have found their new Tom Alter.
Set against the backdrop of the early 20th-century freedom struggle, it follows these firebrands as they mount a dangerous, underground armed resistance against the British Raj. There is a surge of flagwaving and primordial passion in the presentation. But it’s all done tastefully, and more importantly, discreetly.
