Randeep Hooda’s directorial debut, “Swantantra Veer Savarkar,” was released this Friday. The actor underwent a significant transformation for this film, shedding nearly 32 kilograms to portray the lead role. Reflecting on his experience, Hooda recalled moments of hunger on set and expressed that while it may be considered a luxury to endure starvation as an actor, it becomes a burden when you’re also directing the project.
Randeep told Pinkvilla, “Being starved and underweight as an actor is a luxury, but being starved and underweight as a director is a curse. You lose patience, lack endurance, and you’re constantly hungry. While others take lunch breaks and evening snacks, you’re left sitting there hungry. Strangely, hunger also gives you more energy. So, I think everyone suffered from my hangry state on set… By the end of it, I had lost about 30 to 32 kilograms.”
He added, “It was extremely challenging. One thing that happens to every human being is that they lose patience when they’re starving. That’s the first thing that occurs, and you end up with too much energy, causing even softly spoken words to come across differently.”
“All the scripts I’ve ever worked on as an actor, I know them inside out, sometimes even better than others, and I’m always on the ball. I usually stick to the screenplay, incorporating the basic characteristics of every character and then amplifying them. However, in this case, I paid the least amount of attention to myself while acting. My focus was always on the cinematography, other characters, scene work, and so on. There were times when I even forgot to take my own shot,” Randeep continued.
News18 gave the film a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. The review stated, “The film mostly remains faithful to Savarkar’s story until his imprisonment in Kaala Paani and even slightly beyond that. However, when it delves into his political career, Randeep Hooda takes creative liberties and depicts scenes that may not have occurred in reality. One such scene portrays a meeting between Bhagat Singh and Savarkar, an event not supported by historical evidence. Additionally, the film suggests a narrative where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was influenced by Savarkar and sought his guidance for a crucial political decision. However, there is no evidence to support this claim. Moreover, last year, Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose himself clarified that this was untrue. As a biopic, the film fails to remain true to historical accuracy, which is disappointing.”