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Sunday, May 21, 2000 |
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A fine tribute
By Amber
Sodhi
TERCENTENARY of the Khalsa at the
turn of the century was a highly celebrated event all
over Punjab which inspired Iqbal Dhillon into the
production of Shaheed Udham Singh which bagged the
Screen Videocon Award for the best Patriotic film for
1999. The film was also nominated for the international
film festival. Dhillon has attempted to pay a tribute to
the freedom fighters of Punjab amongst which Udham Singh
was a renowned personality with a cause. "We wanted
to make a film for the state of Punjab at the completion
of 300 years of the Khalsa.
The information for the
script of the film has been extracted from the historical
documentation preserved by the government over the years.
Some of the closed files were reopened. "Most of the
dialogue of the court scene in the end of the film is
based on historical documentation, but to give it a
rhythmic tone at times the sentences might have been
altered. None of the characters of the film are
fictitious. We met some of Udham Singh’s existing
relatives in and around Amritsar. Some of the old folk in
the area related incidents from the early life of Udham
Singh." Raj Babbar has played Udham Singh with
immense dedication and energy. He revealed the potency in
the character of Udham Singh. "Raj Babbar’s
contribution to the film has been tremendous without any
reservations. He is very sentimental about the Punjabi
culture and in this film he has put in his best. Our
whole team committed itself to the cause. Gurdas Mann,
Juhi Chawla, Jagjit Singh and Jazzy Bains have made their
contributions free of cost. Gurdas Mann and his writings
are an immense source of inspiration for me. Shatrughan
Sinha helped us wherever it was possible. But with all
the travelling research and production undertaken, the
film has turned out to be an expensive project. The film
reflects an essence of dedicated teamwork and effort.
"The foreign team of actors were very enthusiastic
about this film. They gave us complete cooperation and
coordinated with us as required", says Iqbal
Dhillon, although does complain about the Punjab
Government, "The government made no subsidy for this
movie. A film which is selected for an international film
festival is supposed to get perpetual tax redemption, but
Shaheed Udham Singh was allowed tax redemption for only
ten weeks after the release. It is a pity that there is
no help from the government for a cause that educates the
masses of their history."
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