Shaheed Udham Singh Did Not Beg, Nor Will I: Raj Babbar

FILM STAR turned politician Raj Babbar said that he will 'not beg', even while declaring that he was cash strapped. "Shaheed Udham Singh did not beg and I will not beg either for publicity or promotion of the film on the great martyr", he said.

That his latest film Shaheed Udham Singh is somewhat a fall-out of his dream project was admitted by the star MP himself, when he told a distinguished gathering here that he could not afford to do a film on Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and, thus, settled

to do one on Udham Singh instead.

"The film on Netaji was proving to be very expensive...in the range of some Rs 15 crore", Babbar said, adding, "Itni meri hasiyat nahin hai..." (I cannot afford that much) He, however, declared that the project was very much on. "Someday, sometime, I will make a film on Netaji".

For the moment, Babbar and his team have attempted to resurrect Shaheed Udham Singh from the pages of history after years of 'laborious research'. The usual dash of Bollywood masala in this three hour long film is provided by way of actors Juhi Chawla and Shatrughan Sinha.

Produced under his home banner Babbar Visuals, Raj Babbar's film attempts to weave romance and history into a narrative that portrays different facets of the revolutionary. And the revolutionary, ironically, reminds one of the legendary Omar Khayyam be it at the pub or during his intimate interlude with a white woman in the film.

The screening of Babbar's film was part of the commemorative programme "The Spirit of United India" organised by the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, (CCRT), Ministry of Culture. It was an evening dedicated to the freedom movement and freedom fighters.

Yet it somewhat failed to uphold the spirit of nationalism. For even while the martyrs were remembered and their revolt against the British recounted, English dominated the entire proceeding.

"The language of slavery to honour freedom fighters" quipped a viewer. While care had been taken to invite several freedom fighters for the programme, they sat huddled in the middle rows, with

the politicians as the front rankers. Even Shaheed Bhagat Singh's brother was one among the

crowd.

However, both Raj Babbar and CCRT Chairman and former Mayor Ravi Bhushan Wadhawan saved the day by not only speaking in Hindi but speaking emotionally and paying befitting tributes to the martyrs.

Last evening too was one when freedom fighters Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Shaheed Udham Singh were brought together on a common stage, in a reading from the recently released book The Martyr Bhagat Singh: Experiments in Revolution by Kuldip Nayar.

As a prelude, Mr Kuldip Nayar said that one of the reasons why he had decided to write the book was to address the need to explain the difference between terrorism and

revolution. Among those present at the high profile evening yesterday were Union Ministers Murli Manohar Joshi and Ram Jethmalani, senior politicians Amar Singh, Vasant Sathe, AB Bardhan and Madanlal Khurana and pop singer Daler Mehndi, clad in a parrot-green outfit.