For Abhishek Bachchan, indeed the characters seeped in historicity provide him an opportunity to give some good performances, and the months of December and January, if one goes by the belief in the industry of looking for the vital signs converging into good luck are concerned, have also been kind enough at box office. Same seems to be happening with KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY where Abhishek Bachchan playing the role of a fiery freedom fighter Surjya Sen who could ignite the nationalist fervor among a group of his students and galvanize them to wage a revolt against the British Raj. Abhishek Bachchan’s performance reminds one of the effervescence that he brings into the character of Surjya Sen in the same manner as he did in GURU.
Based on Manini Chatterjee’s book, DO OR DIE: THE CHITAGAON UPRISING, KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY is a sincere attempt by Ashutosh Gowariker to create an integral part of our freedom struggle through the medium of cinema and remind us that the freedom that we enjoy today has come at a much great cost and we need to work for its preservation. Being a commercial filmmaker, it has elements of melodrama and the location is also created in Goa, but even then for the critics who lament that the Indian film makers do not look to serious content to present in the form of a cinematic representation, KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY, is a very pertinent reply. One also need to underline the fact that Goa also was a part of the uprising so the choice of the location may not be of that relevance, what is pertinent is the bold attempt by the director to swim against the usual Masala pot-boilers. Ashutosh Gowariker in fact can claim to be a film maker who consciously or unconsciously has chosen slices of history from Indian montage as his subject matter of content and for this sheer effort needs plaudits.
Ashutosh Gowariker has single handedly changed the manner in which films with nationalistic flavor are made, by cutting down the melodrama and theatrics and replacing it with restraint and subtle nuances.
For Deepika Padukone as well KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY has come in an opportunity where the acting quotient dominates without any support from glamour quotient as it has been a characteristic performance and she has come out with a creditable performance.
KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY indeed is a valuable addition to historical construct of our heritage through cinema and one only hopes more directors would come forward and bring out more such hidden vintages of our heritage.
