Director Aashish Mall’s Shatak sets out to chronicle 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) within a 112-minute frame. It is clearly mounted as a centenary tribute, but it also invites reflection on what we expect from cinema itself. A mainstream movie, by instinct, aims to engage and entertain. It draws the viewer in through lived-in characters, emotional conflict, and dramatic payoff. A documentary, in contrast, is rooted in documentation. It gathers events, contexts and viewpoints into a structured narrative meant more to inform than to entertain. The difference lies not just in format, but in intention.
Shatak moves between these two forms. It has the scale and staging of a feature film, yet its dominant impulse is informational. It wants to present the origins of the RSS through Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, trace its growth under Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar, and situate the organisation within major historical developments of pre and independent India. At the same time, it attempts to address the contested narratives surrounding the organisation. It brings up points of criticism that exist in public discourse and then counters them with the organisation’s own explanations and stated intentions. In that sense, the film does not just narrate history; it responds to it.
From an audience point of view, however, the cinematic experience feels shaped heavily by technology. The film appears to rely on extensive CGI and possibly AI-generated recreations of sequences and large-scale historical moments. While this allows the makers to visualise events that would otherwise be difficult within budget constraints, the result sometimes feels distant. The digital polish does not always translate into emotional weight. Instead of deepening immersion, certain sequences create a sense of detachment, as if the viewer is watching a constructed illustration rather than inhabiting a lived moment.
This technological reliance adds to the film’s documentary-like tone. The emphasis remains on covering events and presenting milestones. Emotional arcs often take a back seat to exposition. Scenes designed to evoke patriotism or ideological conviction are present, but they move quickly, rarely lingering long enough to build layered cinematic depth.
The core challenge remains the scale of the subject. A century’s worth of socio-political evolution is compressed into a single sitting. Important events surface one after another, giving the impression of a curated historical overview. It reinforces the sense that such material might have benefited from a long-form format, perhaps a web series, where phases of growth, internal debates and human struggles could be explored in greater detail.
Interestingly, the closing reel hints that this journey is not over. The suggestion of a Part 2 indicates that the filmmakers themselves recognise the expansiveness of the narrative. If pursued, a continuation may allow more breathing space and possibly a deeper exploration of the contemporary phase of the organisation’s role in public life.
In its current form, Shatak functions more as a commemorative docufeature than as a fully immersive dramatic film. It seeks to inform, clarify and position the RSS within a century-long national journey. Whether one views it as tribute, ideological articulation, or cinematic documentation, the film’s ambition is evident. The lingering question is not about intent, but about form: when telling a story of this magnitude, is information enough, or must cinema also make us feel?
Movie: Shatak
Director: Aashish Mall
Run Time: 1hr 52mins
Theatrical Release Date: February 20, 2026
Shatak
2.5