Kaptaan Film

[Magdalen Dano]

Inthe late 18th century Bundelkhand, a warrior monk (called the Gossain) goes on a killing spree in a quest to find his arch-nemesis, the Rohilla chieftain, Rahmat Khan (currently in charge of the local fort of Munerghah), who has escaped with his convoy after looting treasure of his overlord Raja Hukum Singh Bundela (the looted treasure is tax due to Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao) and killing all the subjects. In the meanwhile, a tracker helps a rival find the Gossain. In the ensuing fight, the Gossain kills the rival and his army but is himself wounded. He manages to reach Rahmat Khan's palace, where a widow rescues him, feeds, and accompanies him on his vengeance trail. The Gossain doesn't want her to accompany him, but after some men threaten her, he kills one of them and allows her till the Yamuna River. On the other hand, the tracker joins forces with the Marathas to help them track Rahmat Khan in exchange for 20 gold coins. The next morning, the commander remains asleep, due to which the captain and the tracker are accompanied by a group of Pindaris. The Gossain and the widow then meet with the former's Naga Guru, who tries to convince him not to continue with the revenge spree. The Gossain reveals that six years ago, in Banda, he saved Rahmat Khan and his wife from a dacoit attack before revealing his intention to kill Rahmat Khan. After that, Gossain couldn't find him. After departing, the pair locate Rahmat Khan and his convoy. At night, the Gossain tries to attack Rahmat Khan but is captured, and the widow is revealed to have betrayed him.

Back to the present, Rahmat Khan kills Adham Khan, believing him to be conspiring against his child. Soon, the tracker attacks both the British and Rahmat Khan's forces with the help of improvised rockets. The British flee, while Gossain himself emerges out of the river and attacks the people on board. He jumps into the water along with Rahmat Khan, before the tracker fires another rocket, and the boat explodes. Only the widow and her child survive. The Marathas arrive, and the tracker departs after informing them of the treasure's sinking along with the boat. Before hanging Rahmat Khan, Gossain reveals himself to be his younger brother who didn't die despite being hanged due to putting in his throat a bullet given by an older war monk. He was found alive and taken in by the Naga Sadhus. Before being hanged, Rahmat Khan tells him his son would avenge him in the future. Gossain responds by saying "On that day, I will attain mukti from this world."

Previously it was stated to schedule on 6 September. Then it was shifted to 11 October 2019. Finally, it was released theatrically on 18 October 2019.[5][8] It was made available for streaming on the online platform Amazon Prime Video.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has scored 11% based on nine reviews with an average rating of 4.4/10.[9] The film generally received negative reviews from the critics but praising the performance of Khan, the direction, the visuals and the cinematography. Sreeparna Sengupta writing for the Times of India, said that "[Laal Kaptaan] has a tedious narrative and a very lengthy runtime pull it down." and gave it 2.5 stars. She also went on to appreciate Saif Ali Khan's performance as the Gossain.[10] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it 2.5 stars.[11] Writing for India Today, Nairita Mukherjee wrote that 'Laal Kaptaan's biggest flaw is that it is too heavily dependent on Saif, but doesn't offer the necessary support for him to pull it through. Ultimately, it remains a film that had all the right ingredients but is still under-cooked.'[12]

The major part of the movie is set in the region of Bundelkhand (literally the dominion of the Bundelas). This region which falls South-East of Agra and Delhi has historical places like Jhansi, Gwalior, Panna, Chhatarpur, Banda and Orchha within its folds has been historically important. The province of Awadh (Oudh) lies to the east of Bundelkhand and Ganges marks the boundary to the East, while the Rajputana lies to the West. The Yamuna divides the region into two, with the majority of the part lying to the West of Yamuna. The region between the two mighty rivers is known as a doab (marked yellow in the map below). Many of these were erstwhile princely states, which also existed until 1947, when they were merged with the Indian republic.

The era when the Mughal empire was disintegrating post the death of Aurangazeb in 1707, was especially tumultuous for this region. With the power vacuum created by the decaying Mughal empire being filled by the Marathas, by this time the Chatrapati was only a titular head and real power rested with the Peshwas and the various great houses of the Marathas (Shinde, Holkar, Bhosle, Gaikwad). The Marathas laid waste to large tracts and levied chauth ( collection of one-fourth of income ) on these regions mercilessly. But in general, they were hated in this region for their bullishness and general havoc they perpetrated on the public and places. For example, they looted the Red Fort in Delhi with impunity, scrapping off precious and semi-precious stones from the Diwan-e-Khaas to do a vasuli. (I might make a dedicated post for this later.)

If the Battle of Plassey (1757) was the founding stone of the British in India, then the battle of Buxar (1764) was the first real fortification of this foundation, and the British really established themselves in India as a potent force. Though the Marathas were the most powerful, the British did not engage with them directly until the end of the century. The third Battle of Panipat (1761), a few years before the battle of Buxar limited the Maratha presence in the North severely and was one of the major reasons that led to its full demise as a political and military power by the start of the next century. Though, this enabled the houses of Shinde, Holkar, Bhosle and Gaikwad to establish their own semi-independence over the Peshwas. Eventually, everyone became under the British. But the time in which the movie is set, the Marathas were still a force to reckon with and the EIC has just established itself as a millitary and political power in much of the region from Bengal to North India along the Gangetic plains.

The movie starts just after the Battle of Buxar (1764) when a large number of people are hanged outside the fortress of Shergarh (most probably a fictional place, as I could not find it anywhere in the sources). after the British win the battle. One of the persons who sides with the British named Rehmat Khan is especially despised upon, with him being called a gaddar (traitor) by the hanged. The accused are hanged on a huge banyan tree, with their bodies hanging like overgrown fruits along its branches. It is raining and in this scene, a young teenage boy promises Rehmat Khan that one day he will also hang on the same tree.

Fast forward 25 years (1789), we are taken to the den of a dacoit (डकैत /डकू ) where the Bairagi called by another generic name Gossain (this term I had not heard before this film). He comes in and asks for fire for his chillam. Mayhem ensues and the hunter takes his prey. The entire scene starts with dark of the night and ends in the early morning.

The horde of warrior ascetics (of which were the Gossain/Naga) came to prominence in the resulting political instability and shifting sands post the fall of the Mughal empire.

Pindaris were not a tribe, but a military system of bandits of all races and religions. They fluctuated in numbers, being augumented from time to timeby military adventurer from every State, and frequently amounted to as many as 30,000 men.

Pindaris present an episode in history of India, which is quite extraordinary, though skimmed upon in the history texts. Here we are witnessing a rise of a band of people whose existence was based on terrorising and looting people in distant provinces. The Pindaris were roughly active in the last three decades of eighteenth century to the first two decades of nineteenth. Earlier they were under tutelage of Maratha cheiftains who used them as militias to wreck havoc on supply lines of the enemies and disrupt civilian peace. So them accompanying the Maratha camp is completely normal. The depiction of the Pindari lust for the loot (tum log lo khazana, mai chala lene zanana) is well done in the film. In fact, the comedy of errors that the bunch sent to hunt down Rehmat Khan is something to relish. The frustration of the little Maratha knight in being unable to control them is well worth seeing.

But as the Maratha power came to a decline, the Pindaris in the nineteenth century became a force of their own, without masters. They would raid far, and were viscious and cruel in their tactics to make people pay. There are reports that people even committed suicides when they came to know that a Pindari raid was imminent.

Another thing worth mentioning in the film is the settings in which the film is shot. The cinematography is par excellence, set amongst fantastic fort ruins. I cannot identify the actual locations used in the film, so any information on that would be welcome.

The other character in the film worth mentioning is the Dog Walker played by Deepak Dobriyal. He has a pair of very fine Mudhol hounds (also known as Caravan hounds) named Sukhiram and Dukhiram.

The character has no name in the film, but he finds people who are wanted for a price. That is how he makes his living. He refuses a horse mount saying it interferes with His character has many layers and he shares a special relationship with the Gossain, they respect each other. It was a treat to watch Dobriyal play this character with English hat and his greeting of:

For the second time this year, Hindi cinema takes a run at a revisionist Western. Laal Kaptaan doesn't come together as satisfyingly as Sonchiriya, perhaps the best theatrical release of 2019. But that film still had the broad framework of the daaku film to play with, whereas Navdeep Singh heads into largely unmapped territory with some hunting dogs and a history book for company.

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