With ‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’, the immensely talented filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi is donning the director’s hat after a hiatus of almost a decade. Ardent cinephiles who have seen his past directorial works such as ‘Andaz Apna Apna’, ‘Pukar’, ‘Khakee’, and ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’ should know that quite well.
However, many of you might be unaware that ‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’ has done a rare and unique thing in Indian cinema which hardly any Indian film has done before, except for S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’. Any idea what similarity between ‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’ and ‘RRR’ are we talking about? Read on.
‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’ is a film which revolves around the incident when Nathuram Godse had shot Mahatma Gandhi in the year 1948. However, in the film, there is a twist where Mahatma Gandhi survives and later spends time with Nathuram Godse where they have heated arguments and a battle of ideologies.
So, the unique thing from the context of Indian cinema is that ‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’ has showcased an alternate narrative based on a much talked about historical episode. These kinds of films are known as ‘Alternate History Films’.
Besides ‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’, another alternate history Indian film ‘RRR’ toyed with the idea of two real life revolutionaries and their fictional tale of joining hands against the formidable British forces.
As far as the Western cinema in concerned, a classic example of an alternate history on-screen project is the critically acclaimed television series ‘The Man in the High Castle’. The story narrates the tale of an alternate world in a situation where the Axis powers had won World War-II and divided the United States. If you want to watch it, it’s streaming in India on Amazon Prime Video.
Coming back to ‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’, the film will be released in theatres tomorrow, that is, just a day after SRK’s ‘Pathaan’. It would be interesting to see how Rajkumar Santoshi has handled an ‘Alternate History Film’ and that too based on such a sensitive incident. Stay tuned.