‘Sardar Udham’: Controversy erupts over censoring Oscar copy Vicky Kaushal starrer for projecting ‘hatred towards British’ – Times of India

A controversy has erupted over the censoring of director Shoojit Sircar‘s historical film ‘Sardar Udham‘ starring Vicky Kaushal in the lead.

According to reports on Times Now, the censoring of the Oscar copy of the film and the reason behind the film not being selected has stirred up a storm. ‘Sardar Udham’ that released early this month, was reportedly among the many in the country eyeing Oscar glory.

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However, the jury members picked PS Vinothraj’s Tamil film ‘Koozhangal’ as India’s official entry to contend in the Best Foreign Film category.

In an interview with TOI, Sumit Basu pointed out that many loved ‘Sardar Udham’ for its cinematic quality including camerawork, editing, sound design and depiction of the period. However, Sumit said, “I thought the length of the film is an issue. It has a delayed climax. It takes a lot of time for a viewer to feel the real pain for the martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.”

Indraadip Dasgupta further added that the film is indeed “a well-made production” with brilliant cinematography that lives up to international standards. “But it is a little lengthy and harps on the Jallianwala Bagh incident. It is an honest effort to make a lavish film on an unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle. But in the process, it again projects our hatred towards the British. In this era of globalization, it is not fair to hold on to this hatred,” Dasgupta said.

This has seemingly not gone down too well with many citing that the movie only shows the ‘facts’ of the massacre.