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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

‘Bharat Ratna to Savarkar will increase its prestige’

Mumbai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday threw his full weight behind the long-standing demand to confer the Bharat Ratna on Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, asserting that the Hindutva ideologue’s inclusion would enhance the dignity of the country’s highest civilian honour. Bhagwat, who explained the genesis and growth of the RSS over past 100 years in two lectures at the Nehru Centre here on Saturday and Sunday, replied to several...

‘Bharat Ratna to Savarkar will increase its prestige’

Mumbai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday threw his full weight behind the long-standing demand to confer the Bharat Ratna on Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, asserting that the Hindutva ideologue’s inclusion would enhance the dignity of the country’s highest civilian honour. Bhagwat, who explained the genesis and growth of the RSS over past 100 years in two lectures at the Nehru Centre here on Saturday and Sunday, replied to several questions. While replying to one of the questions, he remarked, “If Swatantraveer Savarkar is given the Bharat Ratna, the prestige of the Bharat Ratna itself will increase.” He was asked, why there has been a delay in conferring the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar, in reply to which, Bhagwat said, “I am not part of that committee. But if I meet someone, I will ask. Even without that honour, he rules the hearts of millions of people.” he added. Social Divisions Bhagwat replied to questions that were clubbed in 14 different groups ranging from national security to environment, social harmony, youth, arts and sports. Whenever the questions suggested or expressed expectations that the RSS should do certain things, Bhagwat stressed on the involvement of the society and initiative from the society in resolving the problems. While addressing the critical issue of Uniform Civil Code, Bhagwat stated that the UCC should be framed by taking everyone into confidence and must not lead to social divisions. In the same way while replying to the question related to illegal migrants in the country, Bhagwat urged people to “detect and report” the “illegal infiltrators” to the police. He also urged people not to give them any employment and to be more “vigilant.” Backing SIR He highlighted that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has already revealed the “foreigners” living in the country. “The government has a lot to do regarding infiltration. They have to detect and deport. This wasn’t happening until now, but it has started little by little, and it will gradually increase. When the census or the SIR is conducted, many people come to light who are not citizens of this country; they are automatically excluded from the process,” he said. “But we can do one thing: we can work on detection. Their language gives them away. We should detect them and report them to the appropriate authorities. We should inform the police that we suspect these people are foreigners, and they should investigate and keep an eye on them, and we will also keep an eye on them. We will not give employment to any foreigner. If someone is from our country, we will give them employment, but not to foreigners. You should be a little more vigilant and aware,” he added. SC Chief Emphasising the inclusivity of the Sangh, he said that anyone can become ‘Sarsanghchalak’ (RSS chief), including the SC and STs, as the decision is solely dependent on the work that any individual put for the organisation. “Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra or Brahmin does not qualify for the Sarsanghchalak position (RSS Chief), a Hindu will become the one who works and is best available. A Hindu will become, and that can also be an SC or ST. Anyone can become it depends on the work. Today, if you see, all classes have representation in the Sangh. The decision is taken on the basis of one who works and is best available,” he said. He pointed out that when the RSS was founded, its work began in a Brahmin-dominated community and hence, most of its founders were Brahmins, which led to the organisation being labelled as a Brahmin outfit at the time. People always look for an organisation that has representatives from their community, he said. “If I were to choose a chief, I would go by the ‘best available candidate’ criterion. When I was appointed RSS chief, there were many best candidates, but they were not available. I was the one who could be relieved from duties and appointed,” he said. He said that to belong to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe communities is not a disqualification, and neither is being a Brahmin a qualification to become the RSS chief. Ready to step down if Sangh asks for Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the Sangh had asked him to continue working despite his age, while stressing that he would step down from the post whenever the organisation directs him to do so. “There is no election to the post of RSS chief. Regional and divisional heads appoint the chief. Generally, it is said that after turning 75, one should work without holding any post,” Bhagwat said. “I have completed 75 years and informed the RSS, but the organisation asked me to continue working. Whenever the RSS asks me to step down, I will do so, but retirement from work will never happen,” he said.

Why Ganguly’s Biopic is a Bad Idea

Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Bollywood’s sports biopics are often whitewashed — stripped of controversy and seemingly vetted by the sportsperson’s PR team.

Cricket and films, the two most potent ‘religions’ in India, have had unions time and again. At times, the results have been thrilling surprises — like MS Dhoni: The Untold Story — and at others, they've turned into box office flops or forgettable duds, like 83, Azhar, and Shabaash Mithu. The Hindi film industry has also ventured beyond cricket, exploring biopics on a range of other sports — Saina (badminton), Mary Kom (boxing), Budhia Singh: Born to Run (marathon), Soorma (hockey), Toolsidas Junior (snooker), Chandu Champion (Paralympic swimming), and Paan Singh Tomar (steeplechase).  Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (sprinting) was the only film that was well made and looked and felt authentic. Recently, Sourav Ganguly confirmed that a biopic is being made on his life, and actor Rajkummar Rao will play the titular role. Similarly, there have been talks of a biopic on Vinod Kambli for years. The million-dollar question is: why this obsession with sportsperson's biopics? The answer is simple — money. The industry believes that since sports and sportspersons, especially cricketers, are so popular in India, they can capitalise on that popularity.

 

Up until last year, there was a lot of brouhaha about Chakda ‘Xpress starring Anushka Sharma, based on the life of India’s female cricket star Jhulan Goswami. The film never saw the light of day (Thank God!) despite heavy backing from Netflix. No one knows what exactly happened, but when I saw the teaser of the now-unreleased film, I was shocked! First of all, the actor didn’t look anything like Jhulan. On top of it, the Bengali accent sounded caricaturish. I was immediately repulsed by the lack of authenticity. 

 

The fact is, Bollywood doesn’t have what it takes to make an authentic biopic. Everything is whitewashed. Take, for example, M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, leave aside the brilliant performance by the late Sushant Singh Rajput, and look at the story… Dhoni is depicted as too good to be true. No controversial aspect of his life is shown, and everything seems like it was screened 10 times through the cricket legend’s PR before adding it to the script. 

Then there was a ‘documentary’ on Sachin Tendulkar titled Sachin: A Billion Dreams. Despite Tendulkar’s legendary status― the ‘master blaster’ who managed to reach dizzying heights, broke countless records, and has billions of fans across the globe ―the film bombed. The reason? It lacked an emotional connection with the audience. 


The problem with Bollywood is that if one film does well, they all jump on the bandwagon to repeat the same magic to earn moolah. If a South Indian film has done well, they want to remake it. Believe me when I say this, to date, not a single Hindi remake of a South Indian film has been better than its original (despite a much bigger budget and production values). The X-factor is always missing. 

 

Films on sports personalities have it all: an underdog, a struggle phase, a rise to fame, success, sex, drugs, family drama, romance, downfall, and subsequent redemption. However, Bollywood rarely gets it right, and in the quest to please everyone (especially the person being depicted), the film loses its soul.

 

Coming back to the Ganguly biopic, no doubt Rao is a brilliant actor, but will the makers dare to show the good as well as the flawed side of the sportsman being depicted, or will they do another Dhoni? Also, think about it, who is really interested in watching Sourav Ganguly’s biopic? Rao’s films have not exactly been box-office hits recently, and Ganguly (Dada) is a has-been cricketer who was more in the news back in the day for his alleged extramarital affairs with Nagma and Vaishali Dalmiya and certain other scandals (tiff with Virat Kohli, Chappell–Ganguly controversy, etc.). Only time will tell if the film ever gets made and released. Till then, if you want to watch solid sports-based films, watch the following (no, they are not biographies):  Chak De! India, Iqbal, Kai Po Che!, Saala Khadoos, Rashmi Rocket, Ghoomer, and of course Lagaan.

 

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