Director Rajkumar Santoshi, who is currently promoting his upcoming film Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh, recently said that people have been bad mouthing the two historic characters that form the narrative of his film but “without knowing them”. The movie has Mahatma Gandhi and his assassin Nathu Ram Godse at the centre and is an alternate telling of history where Gandhi and Godse engage in dialogue about their ideologies.
Talking to ETimes, the Damini director said, “Lots of things are being said about Gandhiji and Godse. In recent times, lots of people bad mouth Gandhiji. And of course, Godse is an accepted and known villain to many people because he killed Gandhi. They call him a terrorist also. But without knowing them.”
Rajkumar Santoshi added that he felt that “injustice” had happened to both the characters. In the case of Gandhi, he said that “a lot of allegations were laid out against him but he never got the opportunity to explain”. The Ghayal director said that with Godse too, even though he gave a statement, “his voice was suppressed”. “He gave a statement, explained the circumstances, the reason, what compelled him to take such a drastic act but for some strange reason, his voice was suppressed. That is why people are misinformed, misguided. They have formed a different kind of opinion,” he said.
The Andaz Apna Apna director said that he has taken cinematic license in the storytelling of Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh but every dialogue spoken in the film is “history”. “We have kept Godse’s lines as it is, what he said in the statement. Of course, in a cinematic form,” he said. The filmmaker added that the movie gives a platform to both the characters “to express their thoughts, their ideologies and debate on them”.
Starring Chinmay Mandlekar and Deepak Antani, Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh releases on January 26.