Gandhi - Godse Ek Yudh teaser out: Indian spin on epic rap battles, without the rap

Setting off polemical sparks at the start of 2023, director Rajkumar Santoshi has dropped the teaser of his comeback film, Gandhi - Godse Ek Yudh.

The film, as promised in the title, presents a speculative battle of ideas between two pivotal figures in Indian history—Mahatma Gandhi and his right-wing assassin, Nathuram Godse.

The teaser begins by positing that history has been unfair to both Gandhi and Godse. While Gandhi, who led India's freedom struggle against the British, was killed less than six months after Independence, radicalised Godse was sent away to jail and not allowed to voice his beliefs and motivations. Through conjectural scenarios, we see Gandhi visit Godse in jail and initiate an intellectual battle.

"If society, humanity, is to be saved, violence in all its forms must be forsaken," Gandhi says. In rebuttal, Godse, played by The Kashmir Files actor Chinmay Mandlekar, contests that Gandhi too has a dangerous weapon—'amaran ansan' (fast unto death)—which he always wields to his advantage. This, Godse argues, is another form of violence, 'mental violence'.

Mahatma Gandhi was slain on January 30, 1948 in New Delhi's Birla House by the extremist Godse.

During his trial, Godse, a member of the Hindu Mahasabha, explained his motivations for assassinating Gandhi, saying he held the Indian nationalist and lawyer responsible for the partition of India and for favouring Muslims.

The film's music has been composed by AR Rahman. It is slated for release on January 26, 2023.