Movies/Entertainment
hindi MOVIE PREVIEW
“Gour Hari Dastaan - The Freedom File” Starring Vinay Pathak, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ranvir Shorey, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Vikram Gokhale, Saurabh Shukla; directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan; music by Dr. L. Subramaniam.
This biopic tells the story of little known Gandhian freedom fighter, Gour Hari Das, who takes on a lifelong struggle against India’s bureaucracy to prove his identity. Featuring a talented star cast, Vinay Pathak, often known for comedic characters, plays the title role and Konkona Sen Sharma stars as his wife Laxmi Das. Ranvir Shorey portrays the journalist who reveals his story.
Gour Hari Das, a veteran freedom fighter working for Khadi Commission, lives a content life with his wife and son. However, one day after his son is unable to secure college admission for lack of a Freedom Fighter's Certificate, he feels compelled to establish his identity. In the quest to ascertain his authenticity to his son and neighbors, he starts a journey that takes up most of his life. According to the trailer, for 32 years, Das knocked on 321 doors, climbed 66,000 steps, wrote 1,043 letters, and pleaded 2,300 times to prove his identity.
Ananth Mahadevan, who won the National Award in 2010 for the Marathi film, “Mee Sindhutai Sapkal,” was inspired to make the film after reading an article about the freedom fighter’s 30-year struggle. Journalist and poet C. P. Surendran wrote the screenplay. Gour Hari Das himself, who was barely 15 when he joined the freedom movement, shared many of his life details in the making of the film, which has already received honors at numerous international film festivals.