What a mindblowing movie. Screenplay, direction, acting, background score was top class. Loved it!

Good acting by all. Such a good movie. Screenplay is good. Realistic acting by actors.

In a highly attention deficit generation of Indian cinema, Gour Hari Dastaan manages to stand out by being down-to-earth and unpretentious. Here is a film that silently pulls you into a relationship of engagement, rather than by being loud and calling attention to itself. The heavy subject matter is brilliantly contrasted by the contextual humour that results from the relationship between Gour Hari Das, the protagonist, and Rajeev Singhal, the jaded but supportive journalist who tries to bring his story to the eyes of the public through the newspaper, Mid-Day.This is really a film of contrasts, between the India of the Raj and contemporary India. The characters are archetypal metaphors for the differences in thoughts between the older generation and the new. In a rapidly accelerating country, this is an important dialogue to be had. 'Gour Hari Dastaan' manages to raise these questions by allowing the audience to use its intelligence to navigate the thoughts, desires and beliefs of its characters - it reveals the complexity of India as a nation, exposing its stifling bureaucracy. The cinematography by Alphonse Roy carries the story beautifully, highlighting the contrasts between the two India's that are shown in the film. Having been shot on film, the accurate skin tones with the right amount of detail as well as the limited color palette make this a new landmark in contemporary Indian cinematography. Mr. Roy's breathtaking, classical European cinematography combined with beautiful locations and the beautiful production design brings out the beauty of Ye Olde India.The risk of not using a regular 'filmy' soundtrack with songs and dances has resulted in a tight, focused screenplay and direction. Mr. Ananth Mahadevan does an excellent job at bringing out regularly recurring themes onto the screen, moving the story towards the right direction and keeping the audience engaged with the characters' goals. The casting is downright excellent. Vinay Pathak delivers as Gour Hari Das, the purist freedom fighter who slowly and quietly fought for his right. Ranveer Shorey is convincing and humorous as Rajeev Singhal, and pulls off the cynical journalist archetype. Konkona Sen Sharma does the job of being the wife of Gour Hari Das, though ardent fans might have wished for more screen-time for her character. The focus is on believability as the screenplay is based on a true story.God bless this film to receive the accolades and recognition that it deserves. The level of success of this film will reflect on us as the audience, whether we are interested in addressing the state of the country.Coming back to the question again, was the India of yesteryear better than the India of today?

Gour Hari Dastaan: The Freedom File – A film by National Award Winning Filmmaker Anant Narayan Mahadevan. Gour Hari Dastaan is the story of Gandhian Freedom Fighter Gour Hari Das (Vinay Pathak). The film begins with Andre Gide's quote: "To know how to free oneself is nothing; the arduous thing is to know what to do with one's freedom." This quote actually sets out the whole tone of the movie. Gour Hari Das, an unsung hero of our freedom struggle, who first fought for the country, but later on had to fight against the country. The initial frame of the movie shows a teenager trying to escape on railway tracks with a train running parallelly. Background dialogues mention that the freedom struggle is not only fought by Nehru or Gandhi, but these young people are also fighters. They were making mention of Mahatma Gandhi's Vanar Sena who was part of freedom struggle. Vanar Sena was basically children's army, who used to pass on the secret messages to revolutionaries. Gour Hari Das joined freedom struggle at the age of 14 in 1945, was also part of this Vanar Sena, fought for country's freedom, went to jail. Frames move to the decade of 70's where Gour Hari Das is shown in his house with his son Alok. Alok wanted to have his father's Jailer Certificate, which could have fetched him Engineering college admission in special quota assigned to freedom fighters. But college principal denies to acknowledge Gour Hari Das as a freedom fighter on the basis of this certificate. Disappointed Alok vents out his frustration at his father and asks in doubt – "Were you actually a freedom fighter". Here begins the story of Gour Hari Das versus India's systems. Alok decides to go abroad for his studies and further career. But Gour Hari Das consistently continues writing to the Indian Government to grant him Tamarapatra (Certificate of him being a Freedom Fighter). Standing along with him is his wife Lakshmi (Konkana Sen Sharma, what a performance by her!), a strong pillar of support. Lakshmi's unconditional support reflects so beautifully through her body language. She is neither judgmental for her husband's 32 years of fight nor for her son's flying abroad for better prospects.For Gour Hari Das, it was a matter of restoring his own identity. When asked by others whether it is his fight to get the freedom fighter's pension, he soulfully conveys, no, it isn't about pension or any sort of ego. He was part of the freedom struggle, who fought from Balasore (Odisha) and was jailed for almost 90 days. This was so much part of his identity that if the Tamarapatra was not given to him, he felt that his identity itself was at stake. Journalist Rajiv Singhal (Ranvir Shorey) is trying to cover the story of Gour Hari Das in Mid Day for which he is questioned by his boss, who wants him to focus on gay rights, the stories which could sell more. Rajiv does not pay heed to his boss and wants to further explore the truth associated with Gour Hari Das' story. Anita (Tannishtha), Rajiv's colleague, supports him to explore the truth. Gour Hari Das' dastaan continues. It is his struggle for 32 years, knocking 321 doors, writing 1043 letters to different officials, climbing 66000 steps, pleading 2300 times in the Post-independence period to prove that he was the freedom fighter who was even blessed by Mahatma Gandhi and jailed for fighting against Britishers. He visited government offices, influential politicians, ministers, media, jail officials etc. During this turbulent journey, he was called 'fraud', 'thief', 'crazy', 'eccentric' by others. But he continued his journey with strong determination. But it took away from him 3 decades of lifetime to finally get justice.One has to watch the movie and experience his journey. It is amazing to see his perseverance. A dialogue which stayed with me was: "I feel The British did lot of good, at least we knew, who the enemy was?" The tragedy which is depicted in this film is that Gour Hari first fought for the country's freedom, but in spite of getting freedom, later on he had to fight against the country. Gour Hari Dastaan, a must-watch film by every Indian. Perfect blend of ethos, pathos, logos, impeccable direction, acting by ensemble cast, excellent screenplay. This film is going to move you, touch your hearts. One question which pops up in mind –"When will we be free in real sense, and what will we do with this freedom?" This movie is beyond any rating, I want to give it 5+.