“A TRUE STORY.” This is how Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey opens and it takes you on a journey which is unfortunately not well known in the history of revolutionaries. The film is adapted from the book, Do and Die, The Chittagong Uprising. It is not an entertainer nor is it a “leave your brains at home” type of movie but one with a deep message showcasing true events that happened in the 1930’s.
British India, 1930 Chittagong; A band of 56 – 64 innocent young but fearless and ambitious teenagers, five defiant revolutionaries, two firm young women and an optimistic leader – Surjya Sen, a school teacher by profession. Together they attack five British places in Chittagong including the armoury, the cantonment and a telegraph office all on the same night.
Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan, Swades) has again proved that he can bring out the best in actors and that he is indeed a good storyteller. The film unfolds beautifully giving the audience an insight to all the events that occur before and three years after the attack in Chittagong. Gowarikar successfully manages to present the actors and place in the 1930’s time with great costumes and amazing sets.
The film is very gripping, but is a bit long especially keeping overseas audiences in mind and some scenes could have been avoided to make it even more attention-grabbing.
Abhishek Bachchan(Surjya Sen) and Deepika Padukone (Kalpana Dutta) have definitely given one of their best performances in their career. The chemistry between them is also mesmerizing, even though the film touches very little upon their love story. Sikander Kher’s performance is also notably good and he performs the role of Nirmal Sen very well. The characters that will touch the audience’s heart the most are the teenagers who play the young fourteen-year-old students who sacrifice their lives for the freedom of their motherland.
The film shows the real face of how the fight for freedom began and will surely be talked about for some time to come. KHJJS is patriotic and will remind people from the subcontinent how many people sacrificed their lives for the freedom of everyone else. It will also remind the audience how cruel the British were back in the day.
Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey will bring back to minds why we wanted to be free from the English and will play a role in making people feel more patriotic about their country. It should be watched because it is a true story and very beautifully adapted from a book with great performances, apt music and brilliant direction.
At the end of our screening we all sat there struck completely silent by the power of this film. It is not to be missed!
