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{{short description|2002 Indian film directed by Guddu Dhanoa}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = 23 March 1931: Shaheed
| image = 23rd March 1931 DVD cover.jpg
| caption = DVD cover
| director = [[Guddu Dhanoa]]
| producer = [[Dharmendra]]
| screenplay = Sultanu Gupta {{infobox|decat=yes|child=yes|label1= Dialogues by|data1= Sanjay Masoomm}}
| story = Sultanu Gupta
| based_on =
| starring = [[Bobby Deol]] [[Sunny Deol]] [[Amrita Singh]] [[Rahul Dev]] Vicky Ahuja [[Suresh Oberoi]] [[Shakti Kapoor]] [[Divya Dutta]] [[Aishwarya Rai]]
| music = '''Songs''': [[Anand Raaj Anand]] '''Score''': [[Surinder Sodhi]]
| cinematography = [[Tirru]]
| editing = Keshav Naidu
| studio = [[Vijayta Films|Sunny Super Sound]]
| distributor =
| released = {{film date|df=yes|2002|06|07}}
| runtime = 185 minutes
| country = India
| language = Hindi
| budget = {{INR}}20 crore<ref name="Budget">{{cite web | url=https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=611 | title=23rd March 1931 Shaheed - Movie - Box Office India }}</ref>
| gross = {{INR}}14.25 crore<ref name="Box Office">{{cite web | url=https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=611 | title=23rd March 1931 Shaheed - Movie - Box Office India | access-date=29 November 2023 | archive-date=3 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203040357/https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=611 | url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

'''''23rd March 1931: Shaheed''''' is a 2002 Indian [[Hindi cinema|Hindi]]-language [[Biographical film|biographical]] [[historical drama]] based on the life of Indian revolutionary [[Bhagat Singh]] directed by [[Guddu Dhanoa]]. It depicts the events leading up to the hanging of Singh and his companions [[Shivaram Rajguru]] and [[Sukhdev Thapar]] on 23 March 1931. The film stars [[Bobby Deol]] as [[Bhagat Singh]], his elder brother [[Sunny Deol]] as [[Chandra Shekhar Azad]], [[Amrita Singh]] as Vidyavati Kaur Sandhu (Bhagat's mother) and [[Aishwarya Rai Bachchan|Aishwarya Rai]] as Mannewali ({{small|special appearance}}), along with [[Rahul Dev]], Vicky Ahuja, [[Vivek Shauq]] and [[Raja Bundela]].

The film's release coincided with another film based on Bhagat Singh directed by [[Rajkumar Santoshi]] titled ''[[The Legend of Bhagat Singh]]''. Both films failed at the box office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/2002/may/03bhag.htm|title=rediff.com: Movies: Which Bhagat Singh do we choose?|website=rediff.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/At-the-movies-The-Legend-of-Bhagat-Singh/articleshow/12303758.cms|title=At the movies: The Legend of Bhagat Singh|website=The Times of India|date=8 June 2002|archive-date=18 March 2018|access-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180318081925/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/at-the-movies-the-legend-of-bhagat-singh/articleshow/12303758.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Plot==
[[File:Bhagat Singh 1929.jpg|thumb|Bhagat Singh (1929)]][[File:Bhagat-singh-dramatics-club.jpg|thumb|Photo of Singh (back row, fourth from right) in the Lahore College Drama Club (1924)]][[File:Bhagat Singh in jail,1927.jpg|thumb|Singh's photo during his first arrest]][[File:Lahore conspiracy case poster 9th Oct 193o jindal sunam 12x9 copy.jpg|thumb|Lahore conspiracy case poster 9 October 1930]][[File:Bhagat Singh's execution Lahore Tribune Front page.jpg|thumb|[[The Tribune (India)|The Tribune (Lahore)]]'s front page headline on the 25th of March 1931: "BHAGAT SINGH, RAJGURU and SUKHDEV EXECUTED"]]

Set in the mid-1920s in [[British Raj|British India]], the film tells the story of freedom fighters [[Bhagat Singh]] and [[Chandrashekhar Azad]], who have only one motive in mind: freedom for India. They set about doing this task together with two other men, Sukhdev and Rajguru. Bhagat Singh is enraged when his mentor [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] is mercilessly beaten to death by the police, and he sets about to avenge his death. He and his colleagues do succeed in killing one of the officials responsible, but they are identified, and as a result, Bhagat and Others are arrested and held in prison, where they are tortured relentlessly.

When produced in court, they dramatically admit to the killing and claim that it was done in the name of "freedom." The judge and the public prosecutor do not see it their way, and they are sentenced to life in prison. Bhagat's mother, Vidya, comes to meet him in prison, and he goes to greet her, shackled in chains from head to toe, and he foretells that [[British Raj|India]] will continue to suffer, even after independence from the [[British Raj|British]], and that he will return in another birth to free his motherland. Subsequently, all three are charged with treason and assassination and are sentenced to death.

==Cast==
*[[Sunny Deol]] as [[Chandra Shekhar Azad]]
*[[Bobby Deol]] as [[Bhagat Singh]]
*[[Amrita Singh]] as Vidyavati Kaur Sandhu, Bhagat's mother.
*[[Rahul Dev]] as [[Sukhdev Thapar]]
*[[Akshay Anand]] as [[Ram Prasad Bismil]]
*Vicky Ahuja as [[Shivaram Rajguru]]
*[[Divya Dutta]] as [[Durgawati Devi]]
*[[Aishwarya Rai]] as Mannewali, the girl Bhagat's family wanted him to marry. (special appearance)
*[[Raja Bundela]] as [[Lala Lajpat Rai]]
*[[Suresh Oberoi]] as Jailor Chaddha
*[[Shakti Kapoor]] as Jail Warden Chattar Singh
*[[Vivek Shauq]] as [[Bhagwati Charan Vohra]]
*[[Samaresh Routray]] as [[Yashpal]]
*[[Tej Sapru]] as Dilbagh Singh
*[[Rajesh Khera]] as Sardar Ajit Singh, Bhagat's uncle.
*Deepak Sharma as [[Jatindra Nath Das]]
*[[Suresh Chatwal]] as [[Pandit Kishori Lal]]
*[[Sachin Khedekar]] as Advocate [[Asaf Ali]]
*[[Manoj Tiwari (Delhi politician)|Manoj Tiwari]] as [[Virbhadra Tiwari]]
*Rana Jung Bahadur as [[Prosecutor|Public Prosecutor]] Ashish Verma
*Ranjan Koshal as Kishan Singh Sandhu, Bhagat's father.
*Vivek Kumar Rawat as [[Batukeshwar Dutt]]
*Imran Khan as [[Kartar Singh Sarabha]]
*[[Raman Khatri]] as [[Ashfaqulla Khan]]
*Sanjay Tripathi as [[Hans Raj Vohra]]
*Indal Singh as [[Jai Gopal]]

==Music and soundtrack==
The music for the film’s songs was composed by [[Anand Raaj Anand]] with the lyrics penned by [[Dev Kohli]]. The background score was provided by [[Surinder Sodhi]].

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! # !! Song !! Singer(s)

|-

| 1
| "Mera Rang De Basanti Chola"
| [[Udit Narayan]], [[Bhupinder Singh (musician)|Bhupinder Singh]], Veer Rajinder
|-
| 2
| "Deshnu Challo"
| [[Hans Raj Hans]]
|-
| 3
| "Jogiya Ve"
| [[Alka Yagnik]]
|-
| 4
| "Watanparaston Ki"
| [[Hans Raj Hans]], Veer Rajinder
|-
| 5
| "Pagadi Sambhal"
| Veer Rajinder
|-
| 6
| "Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna"
| [[Bhupinder Singh (actor)|Bhupinder Singh]], Mohammad Salamat, [[Vinod Rathod]]
|-
| 7
| "Aye Watan"
| Veer Rajinder
|-
| 8
| "Khush Raho"
| Veer Rajinder
|}

==Box office==
The film failed to cover its budget thus underperforming at the box office, collecting only ₹14.25 crore by the end of its theatrical run.<ref name="Box Office"/>

[[Shubhra Gupta]] of ''[[Business Line]]'' attributed the film's commercial failure to its release on the same day as ''The Legend of Bhagat Singh'', opining that "the two Bhagats ate into each other's business".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gupta |first=Shubhra |date=17 June 1998 |title=Problem of plenty? |work=[[Business Line]] |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2002/06/17/stories/2002061700120200.htm |url-status=live |access-date=20 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320090832/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2002/06/17/stories/2002061700120200.htm |archive-date=20 March 2018}}</ref> The producer of the film ''The Legend of Bhagat Singh'', Ramesh Taurani, also acknowledged this as a reason for his film's failure, along with the release of another Bhagat Singh film ''[[Shaheed-E-Azam]]'' the week before.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ramesh Taurani reveals they lost Rs 22 crore on Ajay Devgn starrer 'The Legend Of Bhagat Singh' despite the National Award: 'Company ki economy hil jaati hai' |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/ramesh-taurani-reveals-they-lost-rs-22-crore-on-ajay-devgn-starrer-the-legend-of-bhagat-singh-despite-the-national-award-company-ki-economy-hil-jaati-hai/articleshow/111808769.cms |website=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=21 July 2024 |date=18 July 2024 |archive-date=21 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240721052806/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/ramesh-taurani-reveals-they-lost-rs-22-crore-on-ajay-devgn-starrer-the-legend-of-bhagat-singh-despite-the-national-award-company-ki-economy-hil-jaati-hai/articleshow/111808769.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Bollywood}}
'''Other films based on [[Bhagat Singh]]''':

* [[Shaheed (1965 film)|''Shaheed'']] - 1965 Indian film directed by S. Ram Sharma
* ''[[The Legend of Bhagat Singh]]'' - 2002 Indian film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
* [[Shaheed-E-Azam]] - 2002 Indian film directed by Sukumar Nair

'''Other films based on Indian Independence Movement''':

* ''[[Sardar Udham]]'' - 2021 Indian film directed by Shoojit Sircar – based on the life of [[Udham Singh]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0324951}}

[[Category:2002 films]]
[[Category:Films about Bhagat Singh]]
[[Category:Films set in 1931]]
[[Category:Indian historical action films]]
[[Category:2002 Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:Hindustani-language films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Anand Raj Anand]]
[[Category:Vijayta Films films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Surinder Sodhi]]
[[Category:Films set in the British Raj]]
[[Category:Films set in Lahore]]
[[Category:2000s historical films]]

23rd March 1931: Shaheed - Revision history

CleanupBot at 05:07, 22 March 2026