I have worked on the story of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre for the last three years and when I saw this movie, I was extremely disappointed since this film could not capture the enormity of the sacrifice of this city and the role of this massacre in changing the national and international discourse. I have all the respect for Gulzar for his movies like Mausam, Mere Apne etc, movies that deal with challenging social subjects, but when it comes to historical narratives like Maachis and Jallianwala Bagh, his narratives display a woeful lack of research.
The plot of Jallianwala Bagh is a confused one. Gulzar seems unsure if he wants to tell the story of the massacre or the story of revenge carried out by Shaheed Udham Singh. As a result, he is unable to do justice to either.
Jallianwala Bagh is the story of thousands of people of this city and nearby villages who paid the ultimate price for challenging the might of the British Empire. This film does not have a consistent narrative, the characters are two-dimensional and Gulzar has completely ignored the role of local leadership.
The production value of this film is extremely low. Seems as if some government grant was received and patchy film was created. It had great actors like Vinod Khanna, Parikshit Sahni, and Deepti Naval (who grew up in Amritsar!) What stupendous waste of talent! No wonder the film did not get many takers!
I am trying to find a producer for a film on this subject but what chance do I have when Gulzar's name has been associated with this failed project. But his story needs to be told in a better way and it has potential to be a commercial success.
Review of Jallian Wala Bagh
