Upcoming film ’31st October’ starring Vir Das and Soha Ali, which revolves around the aftermath of the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the film reportedly impressed everyone at the festival.
October 31st, 1984 will forever remain etched in the collective Sikh psyche as that was Day 1 of four days of looting, rape and murder of innocent Sikhs in New Delhi following the assassination of India’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh body guards which was itself an act of earth shattering proportions.
The mass killings in Delhi are without a doubt the modern “Ghallugara” (A Massacre or cleansing) in Sikh history.
Producer-co-scriptwriter Harry Sachdeva dramatizes real-life events in 31st October – depicting the first day as it began normally for people in Delhi but became a hellish nightmare for Sikhs once the assassination took place and the wheels of motion were put into play by Gandhi and his evil underlings and their goons on the streets.
The violence – expertly staged by director Shivaji Lotan Patil – is hard to watch even though it has been depicted in a number of other films like Babbu Mann starrer Hawaayien and in Amu, another fine film on the massacre of Sikhs.
The Vancouver International Film Festival website states, “Torn from history, made with urgency and passion, vital for Indian culture but meant to move the world.”
Written and produced by Harry Sachdeva under the banner Magical Dreams Productions Pvt Ltd, ’31st October’, which has been directed by Shivaji Lotan Patil, is slated to release on Oct 30.