Many important events of history are recorded from the seventh decade of the last century to the beginning of the 21st century. During this period India-China and India-Pakistan wars took place. The darkest chapter of independent India i.e. Emergency began.
The regional constituents coming together to form a government for the first time, the bus trip to Lahore to befriend the neighboring country, the backstabbing by the neighbor and the Kargil war. The most important test of the atomic bomb. Many films were made from time to time in Hindi cinema on these important developments.
Apart from being an eyewitness to this incident, Bharat Ratna and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who took many important decisions in the interest of the country, were also present there. The film ‘Main Atal Hoon’ based on his life journey is a blueprint of his poetic heart and tough decisions. These decisions played an important role in strengthening the country.
The film is inspired by Sarang Darshan’s Marathi book Atalji: Kavihridayachya Rashtranetyaachi Charitkahani. In the film, all the important events of Atal ji’s life have been woven into the story.
It starts with a discussion on the news of infiltration by Pakistan in Kargil when Atal Bihari (Pankaj Tripathi) was the Prime Minister. Atal says, we want peace, the world has seen this. The world will now see what we can do to protect that peace.
It introduces the personality of ‘Patriot Prime Minister Atal’ as well as ‘Poet Atal’. From there the story moves towards his childhood. His father overcomes his fear of reciting poetry on stage. Then in his youth he falls in love with his college classmate Rajkumari (Ekta Kaul).
It doesn’t last long, but sinks deep into the heart. Atal went to Kanpur to study law. The special thing is that when Atal went to study law, his father was also his classmate. Both live in the same room of the hostel. From here the story reaches to his leaving his law studies incomplete and his political journey.
Saying such deep things through his poems that the listeners are stunned, this was the specialty of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s personality. Like his name, he remained firm on his tough decisions in the interest of the country.
Directed by National Award winner Ravi Jadhav, the film depicts the life journey of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in a flat manner without any pomp and show. Rishi Virmani has written the story, screenplay and dialogues of the film along with Ravi Jadhav.
The dialogues are very poor at some places. Events move very fast in an attempt to cover the important chapters of Atal’s life. During this time, we get acquainted with the reasons for his idealistic image, association with the Sangh, patriotism, perseverance and love of poetry.
These also include other characters like Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who had an impact on his life. At the same time, the closeness of Lal Krishna Advani and Pramod Mahajan has also been shown. The film does not give goosebumps with the horrors of Partition, the events and decisions of the Emergency, because the filmmaker watches the events from the sidelines.
The film attracts in bits and pieces. There is no tension or curiosity in portraying important events like Kargil war, nuclear tests. These have been decided in the discussion.
However, watching Pankaj Tripathi in this challenging role is a cinematic experience. He has tried to assimilate his distinctive language as well as his body language. He presents Atal’s thoughts, mood and poetic heart effectively.
It is nice to hear many of Atal’s famous poems including ‘Geet Naya Gaata Hoon’ in the film. The choice of Ekta Kaul as his girlfriend is absolutely right. Piyush Mishra suits the role of father. The characters of Lal Krishna Advani and Sushma Swarajya have become vocal.