Guns and roses

Ashutosh Gowariker’s forthcoming film,Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey — based on Manini Chatterjee’s book Do or Die — retells the story of the nearly-forgotten revolution of the 1930s,the Chittagong Uprising. The music launch earlier this week was hence planned to suit the theme of the film,with guests dressed in the revolutionary colours of red and white.

Gowariker introduced the film,recounting how,back in 2001 when he had first read the book,he was both awed and angered. “I was in awe of the fact that 64 young revolutionaries successfully executed an armoury raid on five British posts. The anger stemmed from the fact that this key historical event,where a school teacher Surjya Sen (played by Abhishek Bachchan) led the attack,had been unknown to me all along.”

Chatterjee,a senior journalist,echoed Gowariker’s statement. However,apart from being approached by publishers to write the book,she had another reason driving her. Late Kalpana Dutta (portrayed by Deepika Padukone),one of the two women to take part in the uprising,is Chatterjee’s mother-in-law. “Ma used to tell us anecdotes from the uprising. We didn’t realise then that she had been part of the huge movement. It was not until she had passed away and I was commissioned the book that the relevance of the Chittagong Uprising finally settled in.”

To lend support to Gowariker and his wife Sunita,also the film’s producer,were the families of the cast and crew. The Bachchan family — Amitabh,Jaya and Aishwarya Rai — cheered on Abhishek while Kirron and Anupam Kher were in attendance for their son Sikandar who has a meaty role in the movie.

The music of the film has been composed by Sohail Sen,who also worked on Gowariker’s What’s Your Raashee? Sen,together with Javed Akhtar who has penned the lyrics,manages to capture the era as well as the spirit to fight for freedom. The title track is an upbeat chorus number that brings forth the patriotic fervour. Naiyn Tere and Sapne Salone are both hummable numbers reminiscent of Lagaan’s O Ri Chhori. The album of five songs,accompanied by seven instrumentals,attempts the revival of melody.

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