Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh

I normally don't write reviews but this movie made me do it absolute gem made to perfection without any bias treat to watch. A Republic Day worth Movie. The story might be fiction but viewpoint seems like the writer personally knew Gandhi and Godse. Very sad to see only few screens were given to this movie with most preferring Pathan over this. Had there been a big actor this movie would have been a blockbuster only word of mouth which I am sure will be great should save the film provided it gets enough screen space. Acting was top notch. I was feeling like I was amongst them when all this happened. Music was soothing and Screenplay was treat to eyes. Republic Day gift from Santoshi.

A brilliant concept

However, the folks behind the movie haven't really done justice to it

It is very "preachy" and sounds like a monologue many a times

The concept was a high potential one: to challenge some views of Gandhiji and really debate and thrash them out. The film makers have simply not done ANY justice to it at all. They could have done a lot more.

For example: there are many controversies surrounding Gandhi ji , and none of these have been done justice to in the move:

* That he appeased a certain community by bending over backwards,

* that he discouraged Netaji Subash Chandra Bose,

* that he wanted people to just surrender and sacrifice not just their lives, but also the lives of their children for the sake of non-violence

* that he got VVIP treatment in jail and was in cahoots with the British

* that he overruled the majority vote that Sardar Patel got and insisted on Nehru becoming the prime minister

* that he had wanted the Congress to be dismantled after India got independence... and a lot more!

Highly mediocre movie, given the points that it could have intelligently addressed. Sad loss of potential .

Nice experiment done by Rajkumar Santoshi in Indian cinema. This what if- Alternate history experiment movie is very thought provoking. This clash of ideologies and the very basis of which idea of India is formed. It is also well balanced and has captured very well what emotions prevailed in our country during that time and the challenges it faced. Also that last scene is just jaw dropping.

The only complaint I have is that they chose to show flaws in Gandhi's ideology on social issues but didn't offer his point of view on his religious bias and appeasement as in he just ignored Godse's counter on that aspect.

The good thing about this movie is that Rajkumar Santoshi will receive flak from both left and right wing. This nuance was much needed in our political discourse which has become too extreme to even listen to the other side.

Gandhi Godse (2023) : Movie Review

Rajkumar Santoshi returns to the silver screen after a nine-year wait with Gandhi Godse: Ek Yudh. In the title, they have called it a war, but it's not a violent war. It's a war of ideologies with no weapons available to use. I happened to see a Marathi play called "Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy," and I was stunned by it. As we know, Godse shot Gandhi and went to jail; hence, he never got the chance to explain his doings and thoughts. The play gave him the stage, and it's all about his ideology with a twist of Gandhi's perception to it. I was expecting a solid, hard-hitting product from Santoshi, but this was too mild and fictional to suit the context people were hoping for. Well, that's one perspective, but Gandhi Godse has a safe outing from another perspective. We live in a social media era where even rat-sized things create Everest-level controversies. Maybe that's why Santoshi chose it. However, cinematic realistic values are too low to keep you immersed as a viewer.

Gandhi Godse starts off with a partition between India and Pakistan in 1947. How it destroyed many lives and our unity are the expected follow-ups. Soon, we meet Nathuram Godse (Chinmay Mandlekar), who is disturbed by Hindu-Muslim riots and assumes Mahatma Gandhi (Dipak Antani) is responsible for the partition and riots. He decides to pluck out the root of it by killing Gandhi and successfully dragging three bullets into him. Up until here, it's a historical drama, but then it becomes a fictional drama that nobody would be interested in. Gandhi survives, and Godse is sent to jail. Soon, Gandhi is also sent to the same jail, and he chooses the same ward where Godse is put in. These two have several conversations and that's 'The Yudh of Ideologies' this film is meant to present.

Gandhi Godse is 110 minutes long and still a terribly slow film. The first half is too boring to hold your attention, and that's what causes you to lose interest in the film. You have to keep the audience awake to let them see your story; you can't expect them to take a nap in the first half and then wake up after the intermission. The screenplay of Gandhi Godse fails-and how. Then the second half has some healthy conversations that define the entire film, but it's too late by then. One of the major flaws appears at the beginning only when you see the scene of Gandhi's survival. From there, it becomes difficult for you to accept the film and go along with it. There is no 'Yudh' between Gandhi and Godse; it's more like Gandhi with Godse and Gandhi vs. Congress. Something just doesn't feel right here, politically or theoretically.

Gandhi Godse is a performance-oriented film, and it scores high grades there. Deepak Antani has played the part of Mahatma Gandhi more than 500 times, and you just have to add one more to the list. He looks like Gandhi, he walks like Gandhi, and he talks like Gandhi, so you feel like you're watching the real Mahatma Gandhi on the big screen. Chinmaya Mandlekar is getting better with every next film, and Nathuram Godse's portrayal in this film proves that. The cute debutant Tanisha Santoshi is decent, but her character is a big misfit in this narrative. The supporting cast had done a fantastic job, and you felt like watching them get more screen time, but that didn't happen unfortunately.

Technical aspects of Gandhi Godse are promising, but not all. The cinematography and art design are both beautiful. It lacks breathtaking frames, though. What you can easily notice are glitches in the editing, right from the first scene of riots. The film suffers badly due to the absence of hard-hitting dialogues. I mean, the verbal war between Gandhi and Godse is supposed to be hard hitting and clap-worthy, but here you hardly get any such lines. "Sarkare hukumat karti hai, desh seva nahi," that one line by Gandhi hits hard, and there are a couple of other one liners in the jail scene that leave you in awe. Rajkumar Santoshi has done comedy, action, and romantic films, and he gets into a new zone with Gandhi Godse, only to see lower results. He is done with those evergreen films like Ghayal, Damini, Andaz Apna Apna, Ghatak, Pukar, and The Legend of Bhagat Singh and is likely not to repeat them, but he is not even going close to them nowadays. The 9-year gap says a lot. He could have done better-a lot better, actually. Overall, Gandhi Godse offers a highly fictionalised battle that can be seen once to know the ideologies of deshbhakts with opposite mindsets.

RATING - 4/10*

Sameer lodaya

The movie is an absolute example of a brilliant presentation

The concept is one of its kind where veteran director mr Santoshi has made a tremendous presentation of this concept

The ideology of both the leaders was accurately defined and how both convinced each other on their perceptions and mistakes

The conversation is so highly pitched which clears all our doubts and gives a new prospective to rethink about living and humanity

The movie is so much potential of knowledge which was perfectly presented in dialogues and scenes

Both Chinmay and Deepak has played fabulous one can observe high levels of acts , expressions, emotions , rage , dialogues delivery which is seen only in these types of non commercial films

This was purely a OTT show where whole family can sit together and learn the ideologies.