India was under imperialistic British rule. On 13th April 1919, the walled city of Amritsar experienced a horrific massacre. Brigadier General Reginald Dyer ordered his men to open fire at a peaceful gathering of over 20,000 people at Jallianwala Bagh without warning. Thousands of children, women and men were killed in the bloodbath. At the helm of affairs was Lt. General of Punjab, Micheal O’Dwyer. Sardar Udham Singh nurtered his hatred for 21 long years before he killed O’Dwyer. Udham Singh was hanged on 31st July, 1940. His mortal remains were reparatried to India in 1974.
Sardar Udham is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language biographical film about Udham Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter best known for assassinating Michael O’Dwyer in London to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. Starring Vicky Kaushal as Singh, the film is directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by Rising Sun Films in collaboration with Kino Works.
Sardar Udham checks all the boxes, especially the biggest ones—intent and execution. At the core of it, the film is simply the story of a hero’s journey for revenge against a villain who destroyed all that he once loved. We have read and watched iterations of it all our lives but rarely is it told with such intensity and nuance. Udham (played by Vicky Kaushal) was a young boy when he witnessed one of the most brutal massacres in world history. It is trauma that leaps through generations, so clearly, enough for him to dedicate his life and death to slaying that villain who caused it. Shoojit, however, makes sure not to take the simple route.
Rarely has there been a Hindi film so unafraid to be bold and unwilling to gently depict the truth of the violence and sheer horror that still simmers in those it once affected. Shoojit is relentless, forcing you to sit through almost 60 minutes of excruciating visuals, as if punishing you for not reminding yourself about the incident often enough. Its effect, however, is not something most viewers would agree on.
However, all of this would have been rendered much less impactful without Vicky Kaushal’s talent. He delivers a performance of a lifetime as Sardar Udham and does it through three stages of his life. He is enigmatic as the spy-type, making his way through the streets of London with murder on his mind. He is also a revolutionary as he belts poetic speeches about freedom. But he is most impressive as the 19-year-old boy from Amritsar, thrown into horrors beyond anyone’s imagination. He is the frolicking boy in love at once but when that dreaded final hour arrives, Vicky leaves you with your nails digging into your own fists. The exhaustion of his body and the desperation on his face cannot leave anyone unaffected.