Before we became split the religious divide into sub-categories like secularly left of right and rightly communal and other rapidly evolving thin lines, Indian cinema simplistic view was that politicians carry forward the British policy of divide and rule to win votebanks or suit personal interests.
While in the late 70s this was shown like an Amar Chitra Katha version by Manmohan Desai in Amar Akbar Anthony - 3 children who separated were raised by three different religions but they donate blood to their mother without knowing.
Cut to 1992 with the Mumbai riots and blasts dividing the country, we needed a rallying force. We needed to get back that community spirit where you coexisted and not get ghettoised .
Indian Cinema found its new extremely angry not so young man. A real hero , who in his real life takes on farmers causes. Nana Patekar became that revolutionary force in a movie called Krantiveer with a manic energy that rattled and woke up everyone. This was the first time he was cast as the hero rather than a supporting actor.
Pratap the character played by Nana Patekar is so street smart that he is a non believer in doing good.. So much so that he keeps ridiculing a local journalist ( Kalamwali bai) who takes on social issues and hence the local politician. As the politicians moves affect the fabric of the locality he stays and his brother, Pratap becomes the revolutionary and what follows is a series of dialogues that everyone in the 90s will remember. He exhorts the people to take on the establishment , and not remain bystanders . The last scene of the movie is a must-do for every mimicry artist in this country. And 'Kay ko jaaata tha ' is the question we should always ask ourselves.
Scene description
Ismail ( A Muslim( is suspecting Hindus of ill treating his child. Pratap in a dramatic scene breaks his finger and shows him that there is no difference in the blood, so why make it a difference. He asks him in the same society , why did he celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi (Hindu festival) and why his kids go to an Hindu school teacher.
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