23rd March 1931 Shaheed - 2002

Story

Set in 1931, British India, the film tells the story of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad who have only 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 Lajpatrai 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 Rajguru are arrested and held in prison where they are tortured relentlessly.

When produced in court, they dramatically admit to the killing and state that it was done in the name of Freedom. The judge and the public prosecutor do not see it that 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 India will continue to suffer, even after Independence from the British, and that he will return in another birth to free his motherland. Subsequently, all four are charged with treason and assassination and are sentenced to death.