Chapekar Brothers Review

Expectations

There have been few films which have tried to highlight the tales related to freedom fighters. After witnessing films on national heroes like 'Gandhi', 'Nehru', 'Sardar', 'Mangal Pandey' and 'Bose', we did see films being made on other freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh, Surya Sen, Veer Savarkar, Vasudev Balwant Phadke and others.

Though, barring the films made on Bhagat Singh, none of them manage to give proper due to these unsung heroes. The latest to join this list are the Indian revolutionaries, Chapekar brothers who were involved in the assassination of a British plague commissioner of Pune. The expectation level is very low due to low publicity and absence of known actors in the film.

Story

'Chapekar Brothers' is a real life story related to the bubonic plague which had hit Pune City in the year 1896. A special plague committee was formed under the chairmanship of W.C.Rand (Hemant Jha). Rand's team started misusing the power allotted to them and harassed the innocent civilians to extreme levels. This led to an uprising among many youths from that area.

At that time three brothers Damodar Chapekar (Abhijeet Bhagat), Balkrishna Chapekar (Sanjeet Dhuri) and Vasudeo Chapekar (Manoj Bhatt) with the guidance of Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Govind Namdeo) decided to assassinate the tyrant British officer W.C.Rand. What happens next is what the entire film is all about.

The 'Glitz' Factor

The story is highly interesting and gives us full detailed view of the historical incident. Every scene involving Govind Namdeo are among the main highlights of the film. Thanks to the real incidents we are engaged in the film.

Director Devender Kumar Pandey comes up with a unique and interesting tale from the integral part of Maharashtra. Govind Namdeo's is superb in his short role.

The 'Non-Glitz' Factor

The first half starts on a slow note but the middle portions are totally engaging until the finale ones where, the movie goes on a drag mode. The narrations are either too lengthy or shown in fast forward mode. In one scene they plan and in next, it's instantly executed without any detailing or soul attached to it.

Even the main assassination lacks the much needed drama and intensity. The dialogues and talking style is like watching a drama. Right from getting weapons to assassinating a British officer, seeking information to capture the freedom fighters, everything is shown easily without any hardship.

The cinematography is weak as one can spot the fake mustache, wig and beard of the characters. The settings are totally tacky. Random images or print outs of British Empire are forcefully stuck everywhere to create the fake era. All these things dilute the intensity of the real life happenings.

Despite of a good story line the movie is presented in the weakest format due to its frail screenplay, hamming actors, tacky setups and lethargic narration.Abhijeet Bhagar, Sanjeet Dhuri and Manoj Bhatt tries hard to do justice to their half-baked characters. Hemant Jha and other British officer's hams to the fullest.

Final 'Glitz'

'Chapekar Brothers' has interesting history attached to it which is narrated in its weakest form and sounds preachy just like a text book chapter.