Aakhri Sawal Review:

There was a time when truth was stranger than fiction. Now fiction has become stronger, loud and all pervasive. The absolute truth is averse, dirty and disturbing. So, truth is now reduced to a perspective. You can choose your own version, one that makes you feel good about yourself, your thought process, your ideology. Helps you sleep at night. It’s an apple which is half-rotten but you can enjoy eating the good side. The real truth actually lies in an unsettling feeling in your bones. That something is not right. From the Bollywood propaganda machinery comes another ‘truth-exposer’. The subject of tonight’s debate aka movie is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the RSS, the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Every accusation against the RSS will be answered with table-thumping arguments, cherry-picking, sentimental background music and goalpost shifting. A character will shout, “The truth will and shall prevail!”

Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Namashi Chakraborty, Sameera Reddy and Amit Sadh

Directed by: Abhijeet Mohan Warang

Written by: Utkarsh Naithani

Rating: 1 star

Dhurandhar star Sanjay Dutt is professor Gopal Nadkarni of, I presume, History at a liberal arts college. He has a narrow area of expertise, which is the RSS. He is a fan of the organisation for reasons best known to the makers. Nadkarni has rejected the thesis of one of his students, the 90s Bollywood-villain namesake Vicky (Namashi Chakraborty), about the 100 years of the RSS. The professor fears that the pupil has nefarious plans of smearing the good name of the world’s largest voluntary organisation. So, in order to protect the truth, he has silenced the dissenter.

But Vicky will also not take it lying down. He challenges his teacher to answer five questions about the RSS. Nadkarni agrees. A TRP-thirsty TV channel flares the flames and takes it upon itself to air the discussion. Maybe not the revolution, but the debate is definitely going to be televised.

There are also vested interests. A saree-clad, bohemian-jewellery-wearing teacher Pallavi (Sameera Reddy) wants Vicky to demolish Nadkarni during the debate. Why exactly? I don’t know, maybe because she believes that the “left is always right.” There is also a young, nameless political leader who wears polo t-shirts and has shady dealings with a guy called Sohrab. The polo guy’s identity can only be guessed by the Nehru and Gandhi portraits in his office.

The film has no narrative, only narrative-building. It is a two and a half hour long “fact-checking” and dog-whistling exercise. Every question is answered either with deflection or with sentimentality. The background music--the age-old friend of sub-standard filmmaking--comes to the rescue. Every “villain” character gets an evil BGM while classical music plays for points raised by Sanjay’s Nadkarni. The debate is less a discussion more a sermon. On an accusation that RSS members demolished the Babri Masjid, you will not get a denial but melodramatic lines like “but first the majority’s trust was broken.” The film will convey that RSS head MS Golwalkar expressed sorrow on Gandhi’s assassination but it will not mention the latter’s criticism by the organisation via their magazine Organiser. Grey areas will be presented as clear pictures and the film is hell-bent not to entertain but indoctrinate. Every doubt will be sealed shut with emotions. On a question of why the RSS landed late to save those who were killed in floods? The answer is that Sanjay’s Nadkarni lost his own son too in them. When asked for records of their contribution to the nation, he deflects by saying that they don’t need evidence, since God is their witness. A lot of times unknowingly the film puts its foot in its own mouth. In a scene Nadkarni says that the RSS has an usool (rule) to not take part in debates.

Aakhri Sawal can’t be evaluated on acting, direction or cinematography because that’s not what the film is concerned with. It’s an audio-visual opinion piece whose arguments aren’t convincing. Its agenda is to vilify all those who dare to question. This is mere propaganda slop which can bring up cherry-picked facts if you doubt its truths and can hide behind the garb of fiction if you catch its lies.