Ae Watan Mere Watan (transl. Oh Country My Country) is a 2024 Hindi-language historical biographical film about India's struggle for freedom in 1942, based on the life of Usha Mehta, a brave young girl who starts an underground radio station to spread the message of unity, setting off a thrilling chase with the British authorities during the Quit India movement. It is written and directed by Kannan Iyer and produced by Karan Johar, starring Sara Ali Khan, Alexx O'Nell and Emraan Hashmi. The film premiered on 21 March 2024 on Amazon Prime Video to mixed reviews from critics.
Contents
Plot
In 1930, a young Usha Mehta witnesses her Gandhian schoolteacher being brutally beaten by British police during a protest. The fearless child tries to intervene, getting injured herself. Her father, Hariprasad, a loyal British-serving judge, locks her in a room to suppress her rebellious spirit but also introduces her to the radio as a window to the world.
By 1942, during World War II, 22-year-old Usha (Sara Ali Khan) in Bombay is secretly deeply involved in India's freedom struggle, unbeknownst to her father. Leading a small group of young revolutionaries—including her love interest Kaushik (Abhay Verma), close friend Fahad (Sparsh Srivastav), and others—she joins the Congress party's Quit India Movement launched by Gandhi.
Inspired after meeting Gandhi, Usha takes a vow of celibacy (brahmacharya), upsetting Kaushik but not deterring him from the fight. When the British ban Congress, arrest its leaders, and suppress all communication, Usha conceives a bold plan: an underground clandestine radio station, "Congress Radio," broadcasting on frequency 42.34 every night at 8:30 p.m.
With help from her grand-aunt's gold jewelry (sold to fund the expensive transmitter) and engineer Firdaus, Usha, Kaushik, and Fahad begin broadcasting recorded messages from jailed Congress leaders. The broadcasts spread rapidly, reaching from Mangalore to Ajmer and gaining attention from socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia (Emraan Hashmi). Lohia later collaborates with them, upgrading the setup to make Congress Radio a powerful nationwide voice that reignites the flagging Quit India Movement.
As the broadcasts become a major threat, British intelligence officer John Lyre is tasked with tracking the operators. Using triangulation and American detection technology, the police close in. Several comrades are arrested or abandon the cause; Kaushik briefly leaves, unable to watch Usha risk her life; and tragic sacrifices occur, including the death of their leader Balbir.
In a final act of defiance on Diwali, Usha and a reconciled Kaushik broadcast Lohia's crucial revolutionary message calling for nationwide uprising. They delay the police long enough for the declaration to air. The couple is arrested as "Vande Mataram" plays. Under torture, Kaushik breaks and implicates Lohia, while Usha remains steadfast.
Usha is sentenced to four years in prison. Her estranged father, moved by her courage and a visit from Lohia, finally renounces his British loyalties and writes her a proud apology. Upon her release, Usha is greeted by 20,000 admirers as a living symbol of revolution.
The film is a fictionalized tribute to the real-life Usha Mehta and the historic Congress Radio that operated secretly for nearly three months in 1942, keeping the Quit India flame alive against overwhelming odds.
Production
Principal photography commenced in October 2022 and first schedule ended in December. The second schedule began by April 2023 and the film wrapped up in May 2023.
Soundtrack
The music of the film was composed by Mukund Suryawanshi, Akashdeep Sengupta and Shashi Suman while lyrics were written by Suryawanshi, Ravi Girri, Rohan Deshmukh, Darab Farooqui and Prashant Ingole.
Reception
Critical response
Ae Watan Mere Watan wasn't well received by critics.
A critic from Bollywood Hungama gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ae Watan Mere Watan is worth watching as it presents an untold chapter of Indian history." Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave 3/5 stars and observed "Ae Watan Mere Watan tries to get a grasp on the mind of youngsters, shaped by the words of inspiring leaders, committed to the cause of independent India. It's significant because their support isn't based on 'andh bhakti' (blind devotion), but leadership that encourages questions".
NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee rated the film 2.5 out of 5, opining in his review that, "Ae Watan Mere Watan makes its points with clarity and directness. It tells a tale that has meat, but the storytelling style that the film adopts stops it significantly short of being either consistently riveting or memorably rousing". He criticized the lead performance, opining that, "Sara Ali Khan, playing the principal character, is way too porcelain and dainty to convey the remarkably doughty woman's fierce determination." Zinia Bandyopadhyay of India Today gave 2/5 stars and wrote that "Ae Watan Mere Watan drowns in a lacklustre script despite having the potential to be an effective story."
Firstpost's Lachmi Deb Roy, in her review, rated the film 2/5 and said that "Though the film was able to weave the freedom movement with enough human stories showing Usha’s contribution to the Quit India movement, but Ae Watan Mere Watan was unable to give us those goosebumps which a freedom movie generally does". Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express called the film a "banal blur". She panned the film, opining that "nothing about this period drama breaks out of familiar moulds" and that "Sara Ali Khan leaves little impact." However, she called Sparsh Srivastav the "breakout star", praising his performance as a polio-afflicted young freedom fighter.