'The Sabarmati Report' Review: Stay For The Second Half And For The Sake Of Truth

The present movie The Sabarmati Report is the latest salvo fired in the genre of self-styled exposé-like-cinema, trying to uncover the uncomfortable truth suppressed by vested interests.

These truths range from the exodus and genocide of Kashmiri Pandits, “Love Jihad” in Kerala and now the burning of Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station in Gujarat on 27 February 2002.

The movie's central plot concerns a rookie journalist’s quest to uncover the real cause behind the burning of the Sabarmati Express and its attempted cover-up by a section of the fourth estate — the media. In this quest, Vikrant Massey is aided by a young researcher disillusioned by her corporate media boss, whom she used to idolise. 

The movie revolves around this central theme with numerous subplots interwoven around it, such as the perceived superiority complex of English journalists over Hindi journalists, the corporatisation and politicisation of media houses and the attempt by the opposition to capitalise on a grave tragedy to dislodge the sitting chief minister.  

The first half of the movie comes out as a laborious attempt at constructing the foreground of the story which at times fails to grip the attention of the audience enough.

However, the movie at various places is interspersed with actual footage of the incident which gives it a documentary-like feel and tries to keep the audience hooked to the narrative even though at some points footage shown unrelated to the Godhra incident seems quite irrelevant and off-putting.

The second half starts building up pace as our protagonists start unravelling the conspiracy behind the tragedy. The best scenes come up in this part as our heroes quickly start connecting dots till they reach the prime culprit and uncover the actual masterplan behind the incident.   

The movie’s thrust is drawn from the facts detailed in the Nanavati-Mehta Commission report which stated that the burning of Sabarmati Express was a premeditated conspiracy by some local Muslims and comprehensively demolishes the ‘accident’ narrative. The movie rightly uses the facts detailed in this report to debunk the Banerjee Commission report (also referred to as Railway’s report in popular parlance and the movie) appointed under the UPA regime’s Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav with the sole intention of side-stepping the former report.

The Banerjee Commission report predictably termed the incident as an accident and was later declared null and void by the Gujarat High Court.

The redeeming aspects of the movie lie in the service it does in bringing attention to an issue which has been carefully given the cold shoulder by almost all existing movies and literature on the issue.

Even the works that deal with the Sabarmati express burning invariably balance it out by propping up narratives which try to either parcel out blame at the door of victims for their fate or portray the incident as nothing more than an accident or a disputed event with multiple explanatory theories.   

The highlight of the movie is Vikrant Massey’s masterful performance. Through his acting and character, he bridges two parallel narratives: an underdog journalist fighting misrepresentation and the triumph of vernacular reporting for the masses over elite opinion shapers.

The other upshot is the poignant ending showcasing the poster carrying image of victims as the movie concludes with evocation of their names in a gentle tribute. It is complemented by descriptions laying down the bare historical facts regarding the incident. 

The film's weakness is in the writing. Its cardboard-like characters with shallow personalities and unremarkable dialogues. The plot falls very predictably and fails to build any major suspense.

Even the background score seemed misaligned with the scenes most of the time. The movie now and then descends into monologues hectoring and haranguing about things as diverse as the demeaning of Hindi speakers, the importance of Hindu-Muslim unity, the shared joy of winning the 2007 World Cup and how truth can be never suppressed etc.

After initial success, the movie produced by Ekta Kapoor and Co seems to be struggling at the box office. If the movie had focused on portraying the agony and trauma of the victims, their account of the incident, their lives after the tragedy, and their fight for justice, it might have achieved greater longevity and left a richer legacy.