The OTT landscape has slowly divided not just the storytelling form but also the audience into two, as the latter now increasingly thinks in terms of what warrants a theatrical visit, and what can be ‘saved’ for its OTT release. This shift has also quietly conditioned us about what to expect from long-form shows. Which is why a show like The Revolutionaries appears impressively experimental at first glance —  with its clean intent and focus on serving big-scale spectacle, while dealing with small-screen restraints and long-form requisites. Amidst this balancing-act battle, The Revolutionaries ends up in no man’s land.

Cast: Bhuvam Bam, Pratibha Ranta, Rohit Saraf, Gurfateh Pirzada, Neil Bhoopalam, Paoli Dam

Directed by: Nikkhil Advani

Streaming on: Prime Video

Rating: 2 stars

Adapted from Sanjeev Sanyal's Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom, the series tells the story of a group of impassioned rebellions —  Rash Behari Bose (Bhuvan Bam), Bagha Jatin (Gurfateh Pirzada), and Sachindranath Sanyal (Rohit Saraf) — as they attempt to create a secret network of soldiers and initiate the ‘Ghadar movement’ to wage a war against the British. Directed by Nikkhil Advani, The Revolutionaries is strangely plot-driven, where the focus is on key events that take place over the course of 4 years, with an occasional flashback scene. The makers admirably leave no stone unturned in creating an immersive universe with the production design — the scale is massive, and the cinematography is gorgeous.

That, however, also seems to be the problem — there is excessive emphasis on the self-imposed grandiosity, and little space left for the interiority of these warriors. Even after spending over 400 minutes with these characters, we struggle to feel familiar with them, their beliefs, or their sense of self. Despite many rousing elevation moments, the writers struggle to establish the heroism of these rebels.  There is no new insight — either into their freedom struggle or about the idea of mutiny itself. 

With such modus operandi, these resilient figures end up as mere catalysts for the larger storytelling arc. And what’s the arc, exactly? We are never sure of it. The timeline jumps are haywire, and the audience is never sure where is the story heading or the event it is culminating towards. With new characters arriving well into the second half of the show without any coherent progression, the narrative feels all over the place.

The show also relies too much on worn-out cliches — forced cliffhangers, the ‘almost caught’ moments in the never-ending chain of chase sequences (and there are plenty of these), and an unfathomable need for a ‘Bollywood treatment,’ bext exemplified by its use of song sequences which feel far too many. I would have loved to watch a separate film about Sachin (Rohit Saraf) and Pratibha (Pratibha Ranta), and their smouldering love story against the backdrop of a brewing revolution — but in this narrative, it feels forcefitted and sticks out like a sore thumb. Something similar can be said about the Sanyal household. Theirs is a story about being a secret torch that lits up the fire of revolt — but this subplot remains too hazy on execution level, for us to invest emotionally.

There are some interesting ideas on the margins, like the Britain-France conflict that unexpectedly works as a boon for the freedom fighters, Dyer’s (Jason Shah) equation with his Indian subordinate Maan Singh, or Har Dayal’s (Neil Bhoopalam in a restrained appearance) lonely struggles as he attempts to send thousands of secret soldiers from overseas. We also get intriguing glimpses into Dyer’s traumatic childhood, which make him more humane than the heroes we are asked to root for. And yet, this is a show obsessed with its tropes and straightforwardness, so Dyer remains undercooked as a figure. The show also touches upon the element of sepoy rebellion, but refuses to explore it further. But perhaps this is also part of the show’s inherent flawed structure — the writers are allowed to touch upon ideas, but denied any room to dig deeper. The Revolutionaries definitely has too much on its plate. 

It’s admirable that Bhuvam Bam signed on for a role like this — but as Rashbehari Bose, the actor struggles to bring gravitas to the part, and the weight of being the protagonist gradually bogs him down. Paoli Dam shows glimpses of brilliance as Pishima. Among the lead performers, Pratibha Ranta is the most impressive, playing Pratibha, a fiery young woman who manages to spread her wings despite the societal constraints of the time. 

The Revolutionaries also operates in a vacuum. We never get a sense of the national mood while these rebellion hatch frequent plans against the British Raj. Gandhi is fleetingly mentioned in a scene early on, described as a ‘young chap,’ but what else was happening in the country? Were rest of the Indians complacently silent amidst the sparks of rebellion? What they did think of these rebels? What was these rebellions’ ideology that drove them through these dangerous missions? 

Instead, what the show carries is an element of fan-fiction, where characters often talk with an air of self-aggrandization and everything is dialled upto eleven. When Rashbehari talks about a robbery plan, it has to be specified that it is the biggest heist ever — because in this universe, nothing less would do. Unfortunately, the ambition and the outcome are not in sync. One wishes there was a deeper look into on the inner fire and less on the external fireworks. As a show that promised insight into a lesser-known phase of our country’s freedom struggle, The Revolutionaries fails miserably.