Vantage point




Monday, April 24, 2006

Whither Sukhdev?

Happened to watch Rang De Basanti again, while travelling in a Volvo bus from Mumbai to Pune. Noticed something which I couldn't believe I had missed earlier. In fact come to think of it, none of the reviewers, be it in MSM or on blogs, seem to have noticed it either.

There is no Sukhdev in the movie!

Yep, Sukhdev, who studied in the same college as Bhagat Singh, and was one of his earliest comrades has been left out of the movie completely for some bizarre reason. There are historic parallels for every character, but Sukhdev, who was hanged along with Bhagat Singh and Rajguru is nowhere to be seen.

Before you respond with "Sharman Joshi was Sukhdev", let me assure you he was Rajguru. His "present avataar" was named "Sukhi", so it may have confused a few people. But even the movie's IMDB page does not list Sukhdev.

I really wonder why such an important character was omitted. If any of you meet Rakeysh Mehra or Aamir Khan, pliss to ask.