Every Indian family should watch this animation film, kids in particular. We have stopped telling inspiring stories from the pages of our history. In the last 65 years, our Marxists historians have nearly succeeded in distorting the nation’s civilizational, political, and cultural history following a devious political and ideological agenda aimed at deriding, demeaning and wiping out our grand cultural legacy, and deepening class, caste, and regional divisions in society. Ironically, it was done in the name of the socio-political unity of our nation.
The history of Sikh panth is a legacy that should never be forgotten, particularly of the 10th Guru, the warrior saint Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who stood up to the might of the oppressive, murderous, bigoted and intolerant Islamist iconoclasts. He gave a new identity (the Khalsa) and sense of purpose to the followers of Guru Nanak, who was an epitome of Indian cultural, philosophical, and religious ethos enshrined in the grand pluralist mantra of Upnishands – ‘Ekam sat, viprah bahudha vadanti’, (Truth is one, people look and talk about it from various perspectives). Guru Gobind Singh Ji also ended the lineage of living Gurus by declaring Guru Granth Sahib, the compendium of the holy words of the gurus, sages, and seers, as the 11th Eternal Guru.
The film tells the story of the supreme sacrifice of the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. It begins with the still of the first Sikh guru Nanak with rich and resonating voice over of Om Puri informing us about how he talked about the atrocities perpetrated by Babar to forcibly convert non-Muslims to his faith. The Voice Over (VO) goes on to describe, supported by stills, as to how Kashmiri Pandits approached the 9th Guru of the panth Guru Tegh Bahadur to save them from forced conversion and how he stood up for them, challenging the Mughal emperor that if he could convert him, the whole of India would take to Islam. He sacrificed his life for his convictions. He was beheaded in Delhi on the orders of Aurangzeb, the then Mughal emperor.
We get to know about Guru Gobind Singh taking over as the 10th Sikh guru with his headquarters at Anandpur Sahib. The animated story begins. The sons (sahibzaade) of the Guru are being groomed as warriors, scholars, and Shabad singers. The eldest is Ajit Singh followed by Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh, and Fateh Singh. While their grandmother and mother tell them the stories of Sikh gurus and their preaching, Sikh warriors train them in the use of arms. On the other hand, Wazir Khan, the Mughal governor of Sirhind, is plotting to capture Guru Gobind Singh as he poses a challenge to empirical authority in the region. He lays siege to Anandpur Sahib fort, forcing the Guru to leave the place. While the 10th Guru moves out of Anandpur Sahib, he is attacked by the Mughal forces. Two younger brothers and their grandmother are separated from the main group in the resulting confusion. Guru Gobind Singh, with Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh and the other Sikh warriors, manages to reach the fort of Chamakaur. Wazir Khan lays seize to the fort and the Sikh jatthas fight valiantly against the mighty Mughal army. The two elder sons Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh achieve martyrdom on the battlefield. The Mughals win the battle but fail to capture Guru Gobind Singh.
The other two brothers Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh are travelling towards Delhi along with their grandmother. They are betrayed and captured by Wazir Khan’s men. Khan tries to cajole them into changing their religion but the brave boys refuse to do so. The royal Kazi issues a fatwa for their execution. They have to be executed by constructing brick walls around them. Their grandmother bids goodbye to them and while they are taken away, she passes away. The two brave kids refuse to accept Islam even in the face of certain death. The brick walls are constructed around them and they are buried alive. Somehow, the brick walls fall apart. The boys still have life left in them. Wazir Khan orders the executioners and they behead the boys.
The VO returns to inform us about the aftermath of this horrific incident and what happened to various characters of the story and how Wazir Khan was finally killed by Banda Bahadur ji, a Hindu ascetic, who joined the Khalsa panth inspired by Guru Gobind Singh Ji and waged a war against the Mughal empire and its intolerance to other faiths.
It’s the content of the film and its message that matter here and not the form. The film uses basic low-end animation technique. It’s not a great technological feat in view of the kinds of advances that have been made in this field. Nevertheless, it’s an engaging and moving drama. It has never been done before.[polldaddy rating=”7915773″]
The film also indicates that in spite of all this the Mughals never went unchallenged and they were resisted tooth and nail by great Indian warriors who believed in essentially pluralist Indian/Hindu ethos and refused to kowtow before the Islamist terror, bigotry, and deviousness. In the north of India the Sikhs, led by their venerable warrior saints, waged such resistance. In the west, the Marathas led by Chatrapati Shiva Ji carried on a grand struggle that finally saw the rise of the Maratha confederacy and empire and the final demise of the Mughal rule. The fact of the history is that in spite of the extremely cruel and heinous methods used by the Islamists to convert ‘kafirs’ (non-believers) to their faith, nearly 85% of Indian population refused to give up on its native and pluralist religious and spiritual traditions.
My hearty kudos and gratitude to the filmmakers, for giving us a film that tells us about our glorious historical struggle to save our pluralist culture from the murderous Islamist onslaught so truthfully and boldly.
More films like these should be made. What we need is to work a little harder with higher technical benchmarks. Our history has thousands of stories like BRAVEHEART if we care to leaf through its pages. We also have the technical wherewithal to make world-class films. What we need is a firm nationalist resolve to challenge the Hollywood might.
I wish more and more people watch this film for its message. I’m disregarding its serious technical and artistic flaws (Specially in 3D format as there`s not a single 3D effect in movie) and giving it a high score hoping it prompts you to watch it.
