The fatigue of watching the historical biopic Ae Watan Mere Watan stays longer than the film itself. Helmed by Kannan Iyer and featuring Sara Ali Khan, Emraan Hashmi, Sachin Khedekar, Abhay Verma and Sparsh Srivastav in pivotal roles, the pre-independence drama is based on a real-life incident. A biopic on Usha Mehta, an unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle, the film perhaps held a lot of potential on paper. After all, it narrates the story of a young girl in Mumbai whose efforts led to the transmission of Congress underground radio in 1942, just before the Quit India movement. &nbsp;The film's story is important, yet the interesting plot lines seem to be dumbed down by makers at the implementation level- making the film a very tedious watch.&nbsp; 
 
Usha Mehta, played by Sara, is a feisty-spirited 20-something woman who is a Gandhian by principle and wants to be an active participant in the Indian freedom struggle. Her father (Sachin Khedekar) is a Winston Churchill fan, a British Loyalist and a renowned lawyer in Bombay city. Much to his displeasure and discomfort, Usha joins the struggle and becomes an active member of the Congress Party along with college friends Fahad (Srivastav) and Kaushik (Verma). The three are not very clear as to how their contribution can make a difference.&nbsp; 
 
It is the time of World War II and the British Indian government has banned all private radio channels. The Congress party has also gone underground and there is&nbsp;a sense of uncertainty over the future among people. Then, with the help of a friendly Parsi musician, Usha and her friends start radio broadcasting from an undisclosed location. The idea is to motivate Indians to freedom struggle and take up action against British atrocities. Soon veteran activist Ram Manohar Lohia (Hashmi) joins Usha and her team and they begin broadcasting Gandhi's speeches, patriotic songs and more- daily to scores of Indians nationwide. The British of course get to know and want to nip it in the bud but do they succeed? 
 
Films based on the theme of patriotism usually make the viewer think, they evoke strong emotions among viewers. But Ae Watan Mere Watan dumbs down a theme so strong. The censorship of radio in 1942 with the British government using the medium for its propaganda resonates even now. At a time when social media is used as an important agent to share public discourse, the film's plot could have made so much impact. Unfortunately, it oversimplifies, does tokenism, dramatises scenes and dialogues unnecessarily and makes it look like a school play that has been staged on the occasion of Independence Day.&nbsp; 
 
The film's lead, Sara Ali Khan gives an earnest performance even though the poor writing fails her. She is restrained in parts yet brings out the feisty and spirited nature of Usha well. Young actors Sparsh Srivastav and Abhay Verma also deliver to their parts and complement Sara well on screen. I wish the writing was not so poor- it makes everything look like child's play.&nbsp; 
 
Ae Watan Mere Watan ultimately tries too hard to be taken seriously but ends&nbsp;making the viewer impatient and tired. The story is great but the implementation is shoddy. It does not evoke any emotions towards the protagonist let alone the country, making it look like a caricature.&nbsp; 
 
Should you be watching the film? It took me two sittings to finish the film, just letting you all know.&nbsp; 
 
Ae Watan Mere Watan is streaming on Prime Video.&nbsp;

The fatigue of watching the historical biopic Ae Watan Mere Watan stays longer than the film itself. Helmed by Kannan Iyer and featuring Sara Ali Khan, Emraan Hashmi, Sachin Khedekar, Abhay Verma and Sparsh Srivastav in pivotal roles, the pre-independence drama is based on a real-life incident.

The fatigue of watching the historical biopic Ae Watan Mere Watan stays longer than the film itself. Helmed by Kannan Iyer and featuring Sara Ali Khan, Emraan Hashmi, Sachin Khedekar, Abhay Verma and Sparsh Srivastav in pivotal roles, the pre-independence drama is based on a real-life incident. A biopic on Usha Mehta, an unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle, the film perhaps held a lot of potential on paper. After all, it narrates the story of a young girl in Mumbai whose efforts led to the transmission of Congress underground radio in 1942, just before the Quit India movement. The film's story is important, yet the interesting plot lines seem to be dumbed down by makers at the implementation level- making the film a very tedious watch. Usha Mehta, played by Sara, is a feisty-spirited 20-something woman who is a Gandhian by principle and wants to be an active participant in the Indian freedom struggle. Her father (Sachin Khedekar) is a Winston Churchill fan, a British Loyalist and a renowned lawyer in Bombay city. Much to his displeasure and discomfort, Usha joins the struggle and becomes an active member of the Congress Party along with college friends Fahad (Srivastav) and Kaushik (Verma). The three are not very clear as to how their contribution can make a difference. It is the time of World War II and the British Indian government has banned all private radio channels. The Congress party has also gone underground and there is a sense of uncertainty over the future among people. Then, with the help of a friendly Parsi musician, Usha and her friends start radio broadcasting from an undisclosed location. The idea is to motivate Indians to freedom struggle and take up action against British atrocities. Soon veteran activist Ram Manohar Lohia (Hashmi) joins Usha and her team and they begin broadcasting Gandhi's speeches, patriotic songs and more- daily to scores of Indians nationwide. The British of course get to know and want to nip it in the bud but do they succeed? Films based on the theme of patriotism usually make the viewer think, they evoke strong emotions among viewers. But Ae Watan Mere Watan dumbs down a theme so strong. The censorship of radio in 1942 with the British government using the medium for its propaganda resonates even now. At a time when social media is used as an important agent to share public discourse, the film's plot could have made so much impact. Unfortunately, it oversimplifies, does tokenism, dramatises scenes and dialogues unnecessarily and makes it look like a school play that has been staged on the occasion of Independence Day. The film's lead, Sara Ali Khan gives an earnest performance even though the poor writing fails her. She is restrained in parts yet brings out the feisty and spirited nature of Usha well. Young actors Sparsh Srivastav and Abhay Verma also deliver to their parts and complement Sara well on screen. I wish the writing was not so poor- it makes everything look like child's play. Ae Watan Mere Watan ultimately tries too hard to be taken seriously but ends making the viewer impatient and tired. The story is great but the implementation is shoddy. It does not evoke any emotions towards the protagonist let alone the country, making it look like a caricature. Should you be watching the film? It took me two sittings to finish the film, just letting you all know. Ae Watan Mere Watan is streaming on Prime Video.

Ae Watan Mere Watan review: An important chapter of Indian history oversimplified for beginners 

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Ae Watan Mere Watan review: An important chapter of Indian history oversimplified for beginners