[Full Movie in English] Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth, by Jabbar Patel
This is one of the finest historical film made in Independent India. The movie is a refreshing antidote to the way we have looked at INDIA in this century. A work of cinematic scholarship.
This film takes place between the years 1901 to 1956, a period of great social upheavals and revolutionary movements around the world. In India during this time, there were two struggles being fought simultaneously; the first, which is well known throughout the world, was India's fight for independence spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi, against the British colonial powers.
The second struggle, much less well known but no less important was an internal struggle. Seventy million Indian untouchables, led by Dr. Ambedkar were fighting for their rights against upper caste Hindu society.
This film holds its significance due to the fact that, though the ethos contained is Indian, it has its equation in the political and social disparity all over the world. The basic aim of the social revolution is to uphold the meaning of humanity in its truest sense.
Born in an 'untouchable' family at a time when untouchables were forbidden education, Ambedkar bore many insults and humiliations at the hands of his fellow students and became the first graduate of his community. Later, while studying at Columbia University, New York, Ambedkar was able to rid himself of the stigma of untouchability and breathe the air of freedom. But at the same time living next to Harlem he could equate the fate of his people with that of the Afro-Americans.
Though this story is particular to India, it is also universal. While Dr Ambedkar was rooted in India, he also had an international outlook. There will always be people like him who struggle to better the lot of the exploited, the downtrodden, and the forgotten. His was the universal fight of the underdog, to gain his people a rightful place in the sun.
The film evolved from the documentary film he made on the life of Dr Ambedkar for Films Division in 1989. Shooting for this documentary was also done part in the US and the UK and mainly in India when Patel met people who were in actual contact with Dr Ambedkar. "The incidents related to me by these people, their fond memories of the learned visionary were so touching and exciting that I thought, the only true tribute to the great man would be a lifesize sketch of Dr Ambedkar on the silver screen."
According to director Jabbar Patel, it is important for every Indian to see the film because "we don't often read this chapter of our history. As we can see from events around us today, the social struggle of Dr. Ambedkar is important to know because it helps us better understand the present".
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