Dharma Productions and Still and Still Media Collective are preparing to serve cinema aficionados across the world a glorious slice of forgotten Indian history with their just announced film The Untold Story of C. Sankaran Nair.
Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair was a lawyer who served as a President of the Indian National Congress in 1897 and wrote Gandhi and Anarchy (1922). However, his legend revolves around the spirited courtroom battle he fought against the British to uncover the truth about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
Extremely excited and honoured to be bringing the untold story of C. Sankaran Nair, a historic man to the big screens. Directed by @karanstyagi. pic.twitter.com/klJgD1FNZp
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) June 29, 2021
The film, that will go on the floors shortly and be directed by Karan Singh Tyagi, is inspired by real life events about this trial and adapted from the courtroom drama The case That Shook The Empire by Raghu Palat and his wife Pushpa. Raghu is the great-grandson of Sankaran Nair.
Sankaran Nair’s bravery ignited the freedom struggle across the country and is a testament to the power of fighting for the truth. Bollywood is no stranger to the gritty genre of courtroom dramas. From Kanoon and Baat Ek Raat Ki in the 1960s to Damini, Jolly LLB2, Pink, Rustom and Mulk, the cut-and-thrust arguments in court have always enthralled and entertained audiences. To that list of courtroom dramas will be added The Untold Story of C. Sankaran Nair.
The Case That Shook The Empire:
One Man’s Fight for the Truth about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
30 April 1924. At the Court of the King’s Bench in London, the highest court in the Empire, an English judge and jury heard the case that would change the course of India’s history: Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab and architect of the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre, had filed a defamation case against Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair for having published a book in which he referred to the atrocities committed by the Raj in Punjab.
The widely-reported trial – one of the longest in history – stunned a world that finally recognized some of the horrors being committed by the British in India.
Through reports of court proceedings along with a nuanced portrait of a complicated nationalist who believed in his principles above all else, The Case That Shook the Empire reveals, for the very first time, the real details of the fateful case that marked the defining moment in India’s struggle for Independence.
