No episode in history is isolated; it always sets in motion cataclysmic events that design the shape of things to come. The assassination of Walter Charles Rand, Special Plague Officer on July 22, 1897, was one such incident in India’s freedom struggle.
With Rand’s assassination, Chapekar Bandhu sought to tell the British rulers that all was not well with their polices in the country and in Pune particularly, which was in the grip of the plague epidemic. All that remains in the Pune city as a mark of Chapekars’ heroic act is a memorial on Ganeshkhind Road, their wada and a mural in Chinchwad. Their tale abounds amongst history lovers, but not enough is known about how they decided to pick a gun, which was not an easy decision, considering that the British ruled over us with an iron fist.
Sharing with us a course correction of the history that we learnt in school is Gondya Ala Re, a webseries that starts streaming today (Aug 15) on Zee5 platform. Ankur Kakatkar, who has directed the webseries, says that he decided to make it after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the bravery of the Chapekars in his speech made in 2017.
“As a Pune lad, I knew about Chapekar and the plague epidemic. But I didn’t know any other detail about this significant episode from India’s freedom struggle. I decided to dig deeper. There was a copy of Damodar Hari Chapekar’s (the eldest of the three brothers) autobiography which gave me an insight into their kirtankar family, their upbringing, beliefs and ideals. His autobiography ends at a very telling note – ‘I will tell you about Rand’s assassination in the next chapter.’ But there was no next chapter. I had to access court petition and other documents to build a picture of the three brothers,” says Kakatkar, adding, “They hail from the village Chape in Konkan. Hence, their surname is Chapekar and not Chaphekar as is widely believed.”
Ankur has put together an ensemble cast of stellar actors – Bhushan Pradhan plays Damodar, Kshitish Date is Bapu or Balkrishna and Shivraj Waichal plays the youngest brother, Vasudev. Anand Ingale plays their father Hari Chapekar.
When asked about their impressions of the martyrs, Bhushan says, “I grew up in Chinchwad so I was acquainted with the assassination of Rand. But I was ignorant about other facts – I thought they assassinated Rand in Chinchwad! It was much later that I learnt that the incident took place on Ganeshkhind Road. I have passed by their statue (now a mural) in Chinchwad often, but it never struck me as to how the Brahmin youth acquired pistols.”
The picture became clearer when Ankur handed his cast with a dossier of material — references of court cases, Damodar’s autobiography, psycho-analysis. “The eldest brother was a man of action. He spoke less, but when he did, he spoke with conviction and clarity,” says Bhushan of Damodar. Kshitish says that whenever he is approached for a historical or period drama, he deliberates on a few points. “First, I try to figure out if there is an intention to manipulate the facts. Why is the series being planned? In this case, I knew Ankur was very clear why he was making the series. The script was promising,” he says.
Unlike his elder brother, Balkrishna was a daredevil. “Even in those days Balkrishna had grown his hair, kept a beard and was a little rough. He was a rebel,” says Kshitish about his character.
“The youngest brother, Vasudev, was an amalgamation of the two older brothers. He looked at them as idols. Vasudev was just 19 when he was hanged to death. He not only entertained the thought to kill someone, but he acted on it. He was willing to die for a cause. This was dangerous, thrilling and that’s what made me sign for the role,” says Shivraj.
The youngsters are joined by senior actors like Sunil Barve and Bharat Dabholkar in the web series. Sunil plays Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a role which made the actor wonder if he had the prerequisites to portray a tall leader like Tilak on screen. “I was sceptical about playing Tilak because I don’t resemble him. We are aware of Tilak’s role and contribution to our struggle. But we don’t know how he walked, or spoke. He had an imposing personality for sure, and I wondered how I would convey it. So there were challenges and that was one reason why I decided to play him. Another reason was for my gratification. I would often wonder about the lives of Tilak and (Gopal Ganesh) Agarkar and Justice (Mahadev Govind) Ranade. What did they talk when they got together? Would they always talk of desh bhakti or did they banter as well? This role allowed me to be in his shoes,” says Sunil.
While all the others are known figures from Indian history, Bharat Dabholkar plays a character called Officer Brawin. “He is the investigating officer in Rand assassination case. Interestingly, he gets involved and attached with Chapekar brothers. Brawin is full of remorse when the brothers are hanged to death. In fact, he leaves the country after their deaths and doesn’t return,” says Bharat.
The webseries, which covers about seven years of the Chapekar brothers’ life and also their death, is rooted in the past, but the treatment is very modern. “We have presented the story as a suspense or thriller series would be told. There is a lot of intrigue in how their characters are shaped. The music composed by Sai-Piyush adds to the intrigue,” add Bharat and Bhushan. Consider Gondya Ala Re as the missing link in the puzzle of India’s freedom struggle.
