Summaries

Synopsis

Apr 13th, 1919, Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar witnessed an horrific massacre. Brig Gen. Reginald Dyer (Andrew Havill) ordered his men to open fire on 20,000 peaceful demonstrators. Thousands died. Michael O'Dwyer (Shaun Scott) was the Lt Gov of Punjab and the man in charge.

The film goes back and forth from the present, where Udham (Vicky Kaushal) is in London, to his past when he was part of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) (he was jailed in Punjab initially for his association with HSRA, which was led by Bhagat Singh). In 1927 Sher Singh was sourcing weapons for the HSRA to conduct attacks against British colonists) and explores his reasons for assassinating Indian Civil Service officer Michael O'Dwyer. Sher Singh works with his idol Bhagat Singh (Amol Parashar), until he was executed in 1929 for throwing bombs at the central assembly hall in Delhi. In aftermath of the bombing the entire HSRA was eliminated and Sher Singh arrested and jailed.

Udham Singh (known as Sher Singh) is released from prison in Punjab in British India. He is constantly being watched by the colonial authorities. He leaves India in 1933 and goes to USSR during what appears to be winter. He crosses the border via Afghanistan into Russia and gets lost in the winter wilderness. He is rescued by a sled driver, and recovers under the care of an Soviet family in a remote village. From there he makes his way to London by ship in 1934. Even though the British authorities are on the lookout for him, he successfully evades them and lives in London, making a living as a salesman and then a welder. HSRA London chapter includes Koppikar (Ritesh Shah), Surat Ali (Jogi Mallang), S. S. Johal (Kuljeet Singh) & Nihal Singh (Manas Tiwari).It is revealed that Dyer died in 1927. Udham Singh visits his grave in London. 6 yrs pass and Britain is in the middle of WW II, fighting the Nazis.

He is shown in front of Caxton Hall (13th March 1940), making his way inside where O'Dwyer is giving a speech on his time as Lt. Governor of Punjab (on how he forced 100,000 Sikhs to serve in WW 1 and how it is British burden to rule India, because without Britain it will revert to savagery) and how he had suppressed a major uprising (Dwyer believes that Dyer's decisive action in 1919 was crucial in suppressing a major rebellion against Britain). Udham makes his way to O'Dwyer and shoots him, and is arrested. The Scotland Yard determine that Udham Singh worked in a cotton mill in Punjab in 1919. He is an orphan as both parents died when he was 6. He has a brother by name of Udhe Singh. In last 6 yrs, he changed apartments every 6 months and did many different jobs (Salesman, peddler, Iron welder etc). Udham is brutally tortured to reveal his associates as the British fear that other high level targets might also be attacked.

Detective Inspector Swain (Stephen Hogan) is in charge of the investigation. He finds out that Udham used to meet a British communist Eileen Palmer (Kirsty Averton), very regularly. Eileen knew Udham was planning something but refused to help. Eventually Udham got funding from Koppikar to buy guns from IRA to send to India, but this consignment was intercepted in Calcutta by the British. Udham travels to Russia to ask for Soviet help to arm Indians against the British imperialists. He re-enters Britain via Spain. Upon his return, Udham finds Dwyer and starts keeping track of his movements and attends his lectures on his time in Punjab. Udham even takes up a job as Dwyer's butler and learns that Dwyer has no remorse for his actions and thinks of himself as a savior of the British Empire.AS Britain enters WW II against Germany, Udham decides this is the right time to strike as Brits are distracted with Hitler. Koppikar and others want him to wait till after the war, but Udham decides to go ahead alone.

Winston Churchill (Tim Hudson) was against Dyer's actions in 1919 and is yet under pressure from King George VI (Simon Weir) to put Udham to trial and bring him to speedy justice. The British empire is keen to be seen as strong and decisive. They falsify signatures of witnesses on fabricated statements and kill the witnesses to eliminate any back talk.Udham Singh is appointed a lawyer John Hutchinson (Tim Berrington) who slowly gets Udham to tell his backstory. Udham is brought to court and in spite of a good lawyer, the judges sentence him to death. Upon hearing this,Udham makes an impromptu speech where he denounces British rule in India and reaffirms his support for the Indian freedom movementUdham protests the conditions of his detention and goes on a 42-day fast, but is force-fed to break it. He slowly opens up to the investigating inspector and tells him the reasons for the assassination. Udham Singh also got the title of Shaheed-E-Azam.

In 1919, Udham is a young adult working in a textile mill near Amritsar, with a girlfriend Reshma (Banita Sandhu) who is mute. On 13th April, 1919, General Dyer on order from O'Dwyer opens fire on a crowd of 20,000 peaceful protesters inside Jallianwala Bagh. Udham is sleeping unaware of the massacre, until his friend wakes him up, mortally wounded and bleeding profusely. He hears about the massacre and rushes to the grounds to help. It is shown that along with a few other volunteers, Udham finds survivors and gets them to a makeshift hospital which is overwhelmed itself.

He is executed and shown to have a photo of Bhagat Singh, taken when Bhagat Singh was in jail during his final days.After the Independence of India, in 1974, Udham Singh's ashes are brought to India upon the request of Punjab Chief Minister Giani Zail Singh and were immersed in Sutlej river. His ashes were immersed where his idol Bhagat Singh's ashes were immersed. There is a statue made outside Jallainwala Bagh to honor Udham Singh and his courageous work.

In the final scene, Gen. Dyer and O'Dwyer give their own accounts to the Hunter Commission. Dyer claims that Sec 144 and martial law were already in place (they were issued after the firing by Dwyer). Dwyer wanted to teach the Indians a lesson. 26 Lakh Indians died for British in WW 1 and 2. 40 Lakhs Indians died in the Bengal famine, due to Churchill's wartime policies