Ae Watan Mere Watan (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – In the midst of India’s struggle for freedom in 1942, a brave young girl starts an underground radio station to spread the message of unity, setting off a thrilling chase with the British authorities during the Quit India movement.

My Take – While the struggles and sacrifices made during India’s fight for independence has been the subject of many features, this latest Prime Video release, produced by Dharmatic Entertainment, the streaming arm of Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, focuses on one of the unsung heroes in India’s fight for freedom, Usha Mehta.

Who back in 1942, after Mahatma Gandhi announced the Quit India movement, played a major part in building and illegally running an underground radio programme that spread the message of unity and rebellion among Indians in response to the banning of the Congress Party and incarceration of all its major leaders by the British.

Aiming to pay homage to the indomitable spirit of the 22-year-old and the clandestine heroism of the underground radio service, director Kannan Iyer (Ek Thi Daayan) and co-writer Darab Farooqui (Dedh Ishqiya) get the story right with enough potential to connect even with the millennials. Unfortunately, the executions leaves a lot to be desired.

Though there is much enthusiasm in the proceedings, it doesn’t stir feelings of patriotism films like The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), Rang De Basanti (2006) or Sardar Udham (2021) did. Better narration, for one, could have done wonders here as what we witness lacks flair, conviction, or any sense of drama despite taking on a story that has all this.

Resting on the fragile shoulders of Sara Ali Khan, it isn’t easy going. One can see she’s struggling to find a connection with the character she’s portraying. Nevertheless, her earnestness, her intensity can’t be denied as she gamely carries on for 133 minutes, despite the hurdles.

Beginning in 1930 and moving up to 1944, the story following Usha Mehta (Sara Ali Khan), who despite being the daughter of the British employed pro-Churchill Judge Hariprasad Mehta (Sachin Khedekar), inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, takes the pledge to ‘Do or Die’ and joins India’s freedom struggle. Taking an active part in the Quit India Movement in 1942.

However, when most of the senior leaders of Congress were arrested, with the help of her two friends, Kaushik (Abhay Verma) and Fahad (Sparsh Shrivastav), Usha sets up an underground radio station called Congress Radio to keep the morale high. That too at a time when media has been censored by the British and the government has banned private radio stations.

Backed by Congress leader Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia (Emraan Hashmi), she broadcasts his speeches from the radio and records of other leaders, like Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Azad every night at 8:30pm on the 42.34 meters bandwidth. Bridging the communication gap to further the fight for India’s independence. But soon, the British get to know of the underground radio and Officer John Lyre (Alexx O’Neil) is tasked with nipping the radio rebel in the bud.

While the first half moves at a leisure pace, the second half sees the shift from fist-clinching sloganeering to the cat-and-mouse game, with John sniffing out radio signals with a techno-van and the rebels coming up with a trick or two to evade them. Understandably, director Kannan Iyer and co-writer Darab Farooqui had the challenge to infuse freshness into a plot woven with familiar facts, but his sketchy narrative and cinematographer Amalendu Choudary’s dimly-lit sets doesn’t allow the film to particularly stand out.

On paper, the story of Usha Mehta should make for compelling viewing. But the writing is so bland that you mostly never feel the stakes. You never feel anxious or worried for the protagonists. It almost feels all academic, something with a foregone conclusion.

The honorable mention goes to the last fifteen minutes of the film, where the sequences demand complete action from the audience as it goes from the start of the revolution to its aftermath of people being violently murdered by the police.

It is also where we see Usha in solitary confinement and there is a very specific glint in her eye when she reads her father’s letter and finally finds the love and acceptance she was looking for.

It is in that solitary confinement where Usha is genuinely caged, we see her liberated opposed to when she was in the world where she was freely roaming, and she felt caged of her father’s love, of not having contributed to the freedom. While the overall screenplay might not captivate everyone, certain scenes like this one and its efforts to steer clear of religious and political bias are indeed praiseworthy, contributing positively to the film’s integrity.

Performances wise, Sara Ali Khan swings between being a miscast and a convincing Usha, who stands true to her commitment to the freedom fight. While her dialogue delivery could have been better, her emotions come through, especially in the third act of the film.

Mostly, she is overshadowed by her co-stars, Sparsh Shrivastava, the breakout actor from the recently released Laapataa Ladies, who is once again excellent, and Abhay Verma, who outdoes himself in the portrayal of the pining lover; right from his body language to his facial expression to the ache in his voice, he is a delight on screen. In supporting roles, Sachin Khedekar is terrific and Alexx O’Neil sells his menacing cop right.

Nevertheless, it is Emraan Hashmi, who despite being billed as special appearance, walks away with the best part of the film. He plays Lohia with a certain nuance, making us feel as if we are actually watching a dedicated freedom fighter at work. He’s the best thing about the film and one can see that being free from the burden of playing the lead has done wonders for him. On the whole, ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’ is an insipid patriotic drama let down by its tedious approach.