Hardly anyone would not know about the Godhra incident of Gujarat in the year 2002. 59 innocent people lost their lives in the accident caused by fire in two bogies of Sabarmati Express leaving from Ayodhya. There was less investigation of this matter and more politics on it. To reveal what was the truth and what was shown, Vikrant Massey has come with his film ‘The Sabarmati Report’.
What is the story of the film?
The film begins with Ram devotees boarding the Sabarmati Express and then the train burning. After this, we are shown the most famous scene of the film Raaz, in which Malini’s ghost is talking about destroying Dino Morea’s character Aditya in a very seductive manner. This screen is shown in the press screening, where Hindi Medium journalist Samar Kumar (Vikrant Massey), who arrived as a video journalist, asks a cheap question to the makers.
After watching the scene, Samar Kumar asks the makers of the film Raaj that if the girl on screen is a ghost, then why does she wear lipstick. Hearing this question, the makers get angry and Samar’s girlfriend also gets upset. Samar had brought his English medium girlfriend Shloka (Barkha Singh) along with him to get photographed with the makers at this screening. His senseless question caused him humiliation and also took away the opportunity to get a photograph clicked with his girlfriend.
While leaving the event, Samar gets a call from the office. This call is going to change his life and his perspective of looking at the world. Samar is sent to report on the fire in Sabarmati Express. He is accompanied by EBT News Channel’s senior journalist Manika Rajpurohit (Ridhi Dogra). Here Manika and Samar try to find out together at ground zero how the accident happened. There is a huge difference between what they find out and what Manika reports.
Samar Kumar does his reporting here and then takes the video tape and submits it in the office. But only the lies told by Manika are shown on TV and Samar’s truthful voice is suppressed and he is fired from the job. Samar, who has left the job, has become an alcoholic. But after 5 years, he gets another chance to uncover the truth of the incident that happened in Godhra. Now along with EBT’s new reporter Amrita Gill (Rashi Khanna), Samar will bring out the truth that has been hidden for years.
Facts tampered with
Basic facts have been tampered with in the film. For example, it has been shown in the film that at the time of the train accident in Godhra, the Chief Minister was a woman. Some time after the accident, the Modi government was formed in Gujarat. It has been written in the disclaimer of the film that the story of the film is inspired by true events and its dramatic version has been shown on screen. Perhaps this is what was being discussed there.
Amidst all this, a full effort has been made to balance the film. But director Dheeraj Sarna has not been very successful in this. The comments made on the Muslim community in the film and some scenes are quite strange and funny. Amidst all this, it is quite irritating to see the fight between Hindi and English journalism. At times, you are unable to understand whether the film is about the Sabarmati Express accident or about Hindi and English journalism. The film also gives you an opportunity to question journalism. The EBT news channel, which is showing things in a distorted manner, has things like credibility and bravery written on its walls.
Performance
Vikrant Massey has proved how good an actor he is with his different films in the last few years. His work in the film ‘The Sabarmati Report’ is also good. But you can clearly see the flaw in the writing of his character. That is why you also raise questions on it. Riddhi Dogra is good in the role of a senior and rude journalist. Raashi Khanna has also played her role well. Apart from these three, the supporting actors of the film are also fine. On the other hand, if we talk about the screenplay and the background music of the film, it is quite bad.
