In Memory of Friends
उन मित्रों की याद प्यारी
ਊਨਾ ਮਿੱਤਰਾਂ ਦੀ ਯਾਦ ਪਿਆਰੀ | 1990 | Color | 60 mins
IN MEMORY OF FRIENDS documents the violence and terror in Punjab, India – a land torn apart by religious fundamentalists and a repressive government.
After examining the political turmoil of the late 1970′s and the rise of Sikh fundamentalism, the film focuses on the legacy of Bhagat Singh, a young socialist executed by the British in 1931 at the age of 23. Singh has since become a legend. Today the State eulogizes him as a nationalist while Sikh separatists portray him as a Sikh militant. In fact, Singh was neither. Just prior to his death he wrote a book which he entitled ‘Why I Am An Atheist.’
In strife-torn Punjab a band of brave Sikhs and Hindus carry Bhagat Singh’s secular legacy from village to village. In the religiously charged countryside ideas of internationalism and secularism now carry a price.
Camera, Editing & Direction : Anand Patwardhan
Sound: Pervez Merwanji
Production Assistance: Narinder Singh, Shoba Sadgopan, Simantini Dhuru
Awards
Reviews
That was present in a man of just 23 (Bhagat Singh) seems astonishing. It was all so impressive that Patwardhan could not but see him as a great intellectual apart from being an inexorable revolutionary.
Adrian Khare | Blitz
With growing Muslim fundamentalism in Kashmir, Sikh fundamentalism in Punjab and Hindu fundamentalism in not just the Hindi speaking heartland but even in Kerala, and West Bengal, the importance of such a political, ideological, intellectual and human document as that produced by Anand Patwardhan cannot be over emphasised.
Vidyarthi Chatterjee | Economic Times
