Written and Directed by Kavi Raz, Sarabha  Releases on November 3, 2023
By Ras H. Siddiqui

 

When one thinks about the freedom struggle of people in British India, the name of Bhagat Singh always pops up in mind. But how much do we know about some others who may have inspired him? Not many South Asians have the name Kartar Singh Sarabha etched in memory, but it was this young man who in his short life became an iconic figure for famous people like Bhagat Singh, who carried on the struggle after him. And now it is Sarabha’s story that will be getting visibility via film.

And who is better to bring the story of Sarabha’s life to the silver screen than Kavi Raz? Kavi very successfully made us aware of almost forgotten segment of British Indian and Punjabi history through his previous epic The Black Prince (2017), depicting the life of a relatively obscure figure, the son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who ended up in Britain. And on November 3, 2023, worldwide audiences will see his latest biopic, Sarabha, one with a very American connection. The movie will be in English, Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi.

The focus of the film is on the Indian freedom struggle. But additionally, one cannot overlook Kavi Raz here, the first actor of Indian descent to regularly appear in a major TV series, St Elsewhere (1982 – 1988) right here in America. He already has many firsts to his credit, and we look forward to viewing his latest work and possibly reviewing it later.

The Indian freedom struggle surprisingly gained a lot of traction right here in California and Oregon during the period of the First Word War. The movement was named Ghadar (Freedom) and remained active for some time, sending its members to oppose the British in India militarily. Inspired by what they had learnt while living in America, this group refused to live the life of a colonized people. Kartar Singh Sarabha became a very active member in Ghadar and even a source of inspiration for them in his short life.    

Sarabha should be of interest to all audiences and especially those who originate from present Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan which at that time in history were predominantly (territorially) jointly under British colonial rule. From Kavi Raz’s previous track record in filmmaking it is bound to be a highly spirited work. Let us make some time to view it in a theater near us.