If Gandhi was saved and his assassin was pardoned...

On January 30, 1948 Nathuram Vinayak Godse, Hindu nationalist assassinated Mahatma Gandhi by shooting in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith prayer meeting in Birla House in New Delhi.

Gandhi, the father of the nation died. Member of the political party, the Hindu Mahasabha and a member of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu paramilitary volunteer organisation, Godse believed, Gandhi to have favoured the political demands of British India’s Muslims during the partition of India of 1947.

Made partly with historical events, the film ‘Gandhi Godse - EkYudh’ continues with the fiction with Gandhi being saved miraculously. Coinciding with the Indian Republic Day or the South Asian super power celebrates the date on which its Constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950, ‘Gandhi Godse EkYudh’ an alternate history movie was released on January 26.

Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and produced by Manila Santoshi and Ram Santoshi, the film stars Deepak Antani, Chinmay Mandlekar, Tanisha Santoshi and a large number of stars.

Uprooted during partition thousands of Hindus and Sikhs, from Pakistan are refugees in Delhi. The Indian Government struggles to provide for them. Godse holds Gandhi responsible for the partition and misery of Hindus.

He shoots Gandhi on 30th January 1948. But Gandhi is miraculously saved. He pardons Godse. Gandhi suggests congress leaders that congress party should be dissolved. But the suggestion gets rejected by the congress committee. Gandhi breaks his ties with congress, he begins his Gram Swaraj Movement to inspire and organise villages towards self-reliance. Forest conservation, eradication of cast and fair farming practices are on his agenda.

Meanwhile, the system highlights Godse’s writing and manipulates public sentiment against Gandhi whose interference has created ruckus within the government. This leads to Gandhi’s arrest. Gandhi insists on serving his sentence with Godse. They have multiple debates and arguments, even confrontations on issues of Akhand Bharat and Hindutva, Muslims Appeasement and Partition, Geeta and Non-Violence. Through dialogue they both evolve and resolve their differences.

According to the director Santoshi, the film would have been a reality if not for Oscar awarded music composer A. R. Rahman. Edited by A. Sreekar Prasad, the film was cinematographed by Rishi Punjabi.

Internationally distributed by Reliance Entertainment India in collaboration with PVR Pictures, Sri Lankan rights holder and the movie importer is Koushalya Wickramasinghe, Chairperson, of Siddhivinayak Cine Art’s Pvt Ltd Colombo . Local distributor of the film is National film Corporation of Sri Lanka.