The film ‘Sardar Udham’ is based on the biography of a revolutionary freedom fighter who is most known for assassinating Michael O’Dwyer in London in 1919 in retaliation for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The direct-to-digital release of their last feature, Gulabo Sitabo, has been a fantastic learning experience for filmmakers Shoojit Sarkar and Ronnie Lahiri, whose firm Rising Sun Films’ production Sardar Udham starts streaming on Amazon Prime Video this weekend.
“The past one-and-a-half years have reset the way things were, and we realised our films could reach 200+ countries in one go (through an OTT release), including numerous locations where our prior movies couldn’t,” Lahiri explained. Given the uncertainties surrounding movie theatres and the success of Gulabo Sitabo, it was only natural to bring Sardar Udham, which Lahiri described as “a worldwide film,” to other nations.
Sardar Udham, starring Vicky Kaushal, is based on the life of the revolutionary freedom warrior renowned for assassinating Michael O’Dwyer in London in retaliation for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar.
Director Sarkar stated that the channel of release, whether theatrical or OTT, has no bearing on the cinematic approach, since the audience would accept or reject the film based on its merits. “I’m not a chest-thumping patriot,” Sarkar remarked, referring to the charge that many Bollywood biopics are jingoistic and over-the-top.
Lahiri said one of the reasons for their company casting mainstream actors is to ensure their films, which are often very different in style and deal with nuanced subjects, reach maximum audiences. Lahiri’s company is known for making easy profits on tightly budgeted films, many of which have featured stars like Deepika Padukone, Varun Dhawan, and John Abraham.
