<h2>Film: Ae Watan Mere Watan&nbsp; On: Amazon Prime Video&nbsp; Director: Kannan Iyer&nbsp; Actors: Sara Ali Khan, Emraan Hashmi&nbsp; Rating: 3/5</h2>
&ldquo;IF not the British, then who,&rdquo; asks the big barrister, later judge (Sachin Khedekar), in this movie, that is set during India&rsquo;s freedom struggle!&nbsp;
What kinda person would pose such a ridiculous sounding dilemma, while reeling under a cancer called a colonial rule anyway?&nbsp;
Obviously the sort, who has something to gain from the Raj, in the first place. And those are rank opportunists. For whatever it&rsquo;s worth, at least you get where they&rsquo;re coming from.&nbsp;
But, as likely, if not more, it&rsquo;s gonna be somebody brainwashed into a slave mindset towards their own oppressor as well&mdash;in this case, a &ldquo;Churchill ke chaheta&rdquo;, reciting Churchill &lsquo;chalisa&rsquo;, worshipping at the altar of the church called Churchill!&nbsp;
This Stockholm Syndrome can occur, anywhere, anytime. Whether for an unabashed imperialist&mdash;or a gaslighting government, within a supposed democracy. There are so many such across the world, as we speak.&nbsp;
This &ldquo;andh bhakti&rdquo; (blind faith) is also at the centre of this film, in a way. And that&rsquo;s what gives it all the more a certain measure of relevance. We watch the British government, holding on to political power, primarily through curtailing information to the masses.&nbsp;
Namely, an independent media, that could otherwise influence people to remain anything but hypnotised bhakts, forever. Newspaper editors have been muted.&nbsp;
Protests are equally supressed. Political leaders have been jailed&mdash;why else are they, if not to ensure there isn&rsquo;t enough on-ground mobilisation of their possible followers. Quit India Movement is on an upswing still.&nbsp;
How do freedom fighters, or the opposition in this context, access the masses at all, with their voices of dissent? Through an illegal/pirate radio station, what else!&nbsp;
Who&rsquo;s helming this secret project? Among others, the young daughter of the very barrister mentioned above. i.e. Usha Mehta, Gandhian enough to be even sworn to celibacy!&nbsp;
This is her true story&mdash;of the struggle within both the family, and her nation; taking on powers several times her weight category; and staying on in the ring, for every breath she takes.&nbsp;
She&rsquo;s relatively a lesser-known character from India&rsquo;s independence movement. Surely, there are even more under-celebrated women.&nbsp;
The only other person who comes to my mind, equally charming/interesting, yet hardly chronicled, is actor Kabir Bedi&rsquo;s British mother, Freda. Similarly, a Gandhian, who fought against her own government for her adopted home.&nbsp;
Yup, Mehta belonged to the elite. As did Mahatma Gandhi himself. Indeed, many top leaders of India&rsquo;s freedom struggle, or across biggest movements in history, did. Which is just as well. Unless we confuse elites with elitism.&nbsp;
Ae Watan Mere Watan is directed by Kannan Iyer. The first time I heard his name was in regard to the crew of Ram Gopal Varma&rsquo;s Satya (1998). Apparently, he also wrote Varma&rsquo;s Daud (1999), and is probably best remembered for the supernatural thriller, Ek Thi Dayan (2013). Evidently, Iyer is a genre filmmaker.&nbsp;
In that sense, this film too follows the time-tested sepia-tone and exquisite production design of a proper period-piece. Could it have been any different?&nbsp;
Well, if you suffer from a terrible habit of imagining an ongoing movie in other ways&mdash;this could well be a strikingly pacy thriller alone, as pirate radio stations keep relocating, while cops are on a relentless chase.&nbsp;
I don&rsquo;t know; something like the Cold War spy flick, The Courier (2020), maybe? That&rsquo;s the most recent example I can think of.&nbsp;
Iyer picks a more placid vibe instead&mdash;obviously more suited to him, and co-writer, Darab Farooqui, crediting the play, Kharr Kharr, by Amatya Goradia and Pritesh Sodha, as source material.&nbsp;
The stress is more on the sanctity/importance of the subject, before a hopefully patient audience. Rather than relying too much on filmmaking flourishes, or indulgences, of any kind.&nbsp;
Speaking of history, the film opens with the iconic MGM lion&rsquo;s roar, as the studio logo, for an Amazon Prime Original. It&rsquo;s produced by Dharma. The last piece of content I delightfully hate-watched of theirs on an OTT (Disney+ Hotstar) was Showtime, with Hashmi showing up as a moronic movie-studio boss.&nbsp;
Hashmi enters at the 50th minute of this movie, totally redeeming himself as the socialist Congressman, Ram Manohar Lohia, that the picture&rsquo;s young radio pirates are rightly besotted by.&nbsp;
Including the female lead, Sara Ali Khan, as Usha Mehta, bang in the centre; bright and upright. This is easily Khan&rsquo;s most accomplished work. Which obviously isn&rsquo;t stating much. Given the number of fumbles over her seven-film career thus far.&nbsp;
Look out, equally, for Sparsh Shrivastava (the other radio-pirate). That&rsquo;s the lovely lad from Kiran Rao&rsquo;s Laapataa Ladies (2024).&nbsp;
What else to look out for, since you never asked? Honestly, being a Bombay person, Bombay itself.&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s the film&rsquo;s finest character&mdash;with the slogan &ldquo;do or die&rdquo; first delivered from Gowalia Tank; illegal radio stations operating from a flat at Alankar Building in Babulnath, Sunshine Building on Ballard Road, moving to Sitara Building on Gibbs Road, another transmitter in Santacruz&hellip;&nbsp;
Surely, these remains can still be suitably retraced. While set in 1942, the drama feels personally close, in a literal sense, hence.&nbsp;
More often than not, I&rsquo;ve been watching desi web-series lately, and wondering if it could&rsquo;ve been rescued as a feature film. It&rsquo;s the reverse here.&nbsp;
As in, wouldn&rsquo;t Ae Watan&hellip; have been more sorted as a mini-series instead? This is a feature that, frankly, feels like long-form, prestige television. It&rsquo;s on an OTT. So be it then.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
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`Ae Watan Mere Watan` movie review: If you suffer from a terrible habit of imagining an ongoing movie in other ways—this could well be a strikingly pacy thrille

`Ae Watan Mere Watan` movie review: Patiently paced positive patriotism

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'Ae Watan Mere Watan' movie review: Well, if you suffer from a terrible habit of imagining an ongoing movie in other ways—this could well be a strikingly pacy thriller alone

'Ae Watan Mere Watan' movie review: Patiently paced positive patriotism

Film: Ae Watan Mere Watan
On: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Kannan Iyer
Actors: Sara Ali Khan, Emraan Hashmi
Rating: 3/5

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