Vicky Kaushal starrer and Shoojit Sircar directed 'Udham Singh' is out of the race of India’s official entry to the Oscars after Tamil film 'Koozhangal' beat it and 'Sherni' amongst other movies. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor while talking about Indian history had said, “We are scratching at wounds that have already healed.” Toeing in line with this sentiment, Indraadip Dasgupta, who was part of the jury that rejected the film's entry remarked, “..it (the film) again projects our hatred towards the British. In this era of globalization, it is not fair to hold on to this hatred.”
It is a story on the life of Sardar Udham Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter. He went down in history for assassinating Michael O’Dwyer in London to take revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. The film received widespread applause and an IMDb rating of 9.2. The film was one among 14 shortlisted for India’s official entry to the Oscars.
Despite the resounding success, the jury did not find the film good enough to make the cut citing outrageous reasons. Dasgupta while defending their Oscar selection criticized the film for ‘harping on hatred’. “Sardar Udham is 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,” Dasgupta said, downplaying one of the bloodiest chapters of Indian history.
