Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey

10 min readJan 4, 2021

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (transl. We Play with Passion) is an Indian Hindi-language historical action-adventure film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and released on 3 December 2010. Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Sikandar Kher, it was based on Manini Chatterjee’s Do and Die, an account of the 1930 Chittagong armoury raid.

Although the film was set in Chittagong (in present-day Bangladesh), it was primarily shot in Goa; portions were filmed in Mumbai.[4] Its first promo was posted on 12 October 2010 on the film’s Facebook page.[5] The film depicts the Chittagong Uprising from its beginning to its aftermath, an 18 April 1930 attempt to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces in Chittagong (then part of the British Raj’s Bengal Presidency) by armed Indian independence fighters led by Surya Sen.[6][7]

Plot[edit]

The gallows at Chittagong Central Jail, where Surya Sen was hanged; the government of Bangladesh has designated it a monument.

Sixteen young people are playing football in an open field when an army convoy arrives, ordering them to leave the field because they are setting up a base. When the young people object, the soldiers threaten them and then leave in anticipation of a meeting with Master Da (Surya Sen).

Surya Sen is a village schoolteacher and an activist for Indian independence. He has connections with other revolutionaries, who see him as their leader: Ganesh Ghosh (Samrat Mukerji), Lokenath Bal, Ambika Chakraborty, Nirmal Sen (Sikander Kher) and Ananta Singh (Maninder Singh). After his release from prison, Nirmal Sen (Sikandar Kher) meets Master Da and asks him what to do next. Master Da tells him and Nirmal meets Pritilata Waddedar (Vishakha Singh), who expresses the eagerness of her and her friend Kalpana Datta (Deepika Padukone) to join the Indian Republican Army. Pritilata and Kalpana meet Master Da, who has demonstrate their skills by asking them to collect information. Disguised as cleaners, they draw sketches of the cantonment.

Master Da divides the group in four, and asks them to separate. While he is staying with his sister in Patiya, police commanded by Major Cameron surround him; the major is shot dead by Nirmal Sen. The wounded Nirmal Sen tells Master Da to escape, sacrificing his own life.

Eight young rebels, led by Pritilata, later attack the European Club. After killing the officials there, the rebels flee and Pritilata commits suicide by ingesting cyanide. Master Da escapes and retreats to another house with Kalpana and the other rebels. The Chittagong superintendent of police (SP) cracks down on the rebels and begins a manhunt for Master Da. Although he escapes, other members are arrested, killed or shoot themselves to death to avoid police torture.

Several months later, during an army football match, the young rebel Haripada assassinates the SP who led the crackdown. Master Da is arrested, tried and sentenced to death by hanging; Surya Sen happily accepts the verdict. Before the sentence is carried out, however, his British executioners break his teeth, limbs and joints with a hammer. Unconscious, he is dragged to the scaffold and hanged.

Cast[edit]

Abhishek Bachchan as Surya Sen / Masterda
Deepika Padukone as Kalpana Datta
Sikander Kher as Nirmal Sen
Vishakha Singh as Pritilata Waddedar
Maninder Singh as Ananta Singh
Shreyas Pandit as Ambika Chakraborty
Samrat Mukerji as Ganesh Ghosh
Feroz Wahid Khan as Loknath Bal
Vikramjeet Virk as Assanullah Khan
Jan Bostock as Captain Taitte.
Monty Munford as Major J.R. Johnson
Amin Gazi as Haripada Bhattacharjee
Ram Sethi as Rehman Chacha
Nitin Prabhat as Harigopal Bal (Tegra)
Shubham Patekar as Naresh Roy
Parth Mandal as Fakir Sen
Smith Seth as Jiban Ghoshal
Palash Muchhal as Subodh Roy
Mohsin Khan as Himangshu Sen
Rohan Painter as Ananda Gupta
Abbas Khandwawala as Bidhubhusan Bhattacharya
Narendra Bindra as Rajat Sen

Critical reception[edit]

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey opened to generally-positive reviews. Critics appreciated the film, although some said that (at almost three hours) it was excessively long.[8] According to Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India, the filmmaker was able to “combine high-octane drama with a high degree of restraint … The film unfolds like a relentless thriller with loads of action involving the band of revolutionaries as they go about their bloody business.”[9][10]

An NDTV reviewer rated the film 2.5 out of 5: “Ashutosh Gowariker is Bollywood’s most earnest historian and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a noble attempt at restoring glory to long-forgotten heroes”.[11] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated the film four out of five, calling the bygone era’s recreation “demanding, laborious and strenuous. It’s a challenge to present the era convincingly. Besides extensive detailing to lend authenticity, the director carries the responsibility of making the characters come alive to the present-day generation. Gowariker has successfully done that in the past and does it successfully yet again in Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey. The expectations from Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey are minimal, but you can’t overlook the fact that it’s a genuinely honest effort that needs to be encouraged and appreciated.”[12]

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey

Contents

Plot[edit]

Cast[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Written by Vekirej