The Waking of a Nation seeks to expose the “conspiracy” behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in colonial India. The C-word looms large over Ram Madhvani’s limited series on Sony LIV, leading to outrage at every turn.
The non-linear plot moves between the slaughter of crowds protesting a draconian law on April 13, 1919, in Amritsar and the proceedings of the Hunter Commission that investigated the atrocity. The commission has an Indian member, the fictitious lawyer Kantilal Sahni (Taaruk Raina).
Kantilal is convinced that the inhuman assault was planned. He has not only lost his dearest friends at Jallianwala Bagh but also already experienced the cruelty of British colonel Reginald Dyer (Alex Reece), who ruthlessly ordered his men to mow down the peaceful gathering.
Kanti is aided in his mission by other freedom lovers, including Allahbaksh (Sahil Mehta), Hari (Bhawsheel Singh Sahni) and Hari’s wife Poonam (Nikita Dutta).
The factors leading up to Jallianwala Bagh are presented as clues to a mass murder. This includes British memories of the 1857 Mutiny and frustration over satyagraha as a mode of protest. Punjab’s governor Michael O’Dwyer (Paul McEwan) is skulduggery incarnate, constantly devising methods ways to provoke Indians.
The show’s ungainly title spells out its ambition to reveal the supposedly untold truth behind a well-documented event as well as mark its importance in the freedom struggle. Writers Madhvani, Shantanu Srivastava and Shatrujeet Nath do not trust viewers to believe that the Jallianwala episode was important in of itself. If nobody wept buckets or if there was no evil mastermind involved, then it did not happen at all.
A character quotes the adage that truth is the first casualty of war. The six-episode series wages battle on restraint and coherence, opting for an appeal to raw emotion rather than a clinical examination of the event.
Kantilal announces his discoveries in open court at top volume in a manner that suits the Bollywood legal drama rather than a show about one of the darkest chapters in the history of the British Raj. Taaruk Raina solidly plays a lawyer who is divided between ambition and patriotic duty.
The hyperbolic approach undermines the exploration of how a power-drunk O’Dwyer creates a perfect storm with the help of oppressive laws – a policy choice that is also relevant in the present Indian context. The rank racism of the British, and the refusal to legitimise their rule over India, are among the script’s more memorable ideas.
In its effort to slap viewers out of their perceived stupor, The Waking of a Nation does itself a huge disservice. The desired impact could have been achieved without jumbling the timeline or working overtime to prove a conspiracy that isn’t exactly one – history rather than hysteria.
