It takes patience and perseverance of unimaginable levels to come even somewhat close to what Gour Hari Das has accomplished. For the uninitiated, he fought a silent war for 32 long years against his own government to prove his patriotic association towards the nation.

Finally, after three full decades, the government gave him a certificate recognising his work as a freedom fighter. As you might be aware, Ananth Mahadevan’s film GOUR HARI DASTAAN, inspired by his life is all set to release this Friday.

Ask the freedom fighter how important is the film for him and he immediately says, “It’s not important for me, it’s important for the next generation.

I hope whatever I have done is a source of inspiration for the new generation to do something for others and for society.”

He goes on to add, “The difference between the youth of today and pre-independence is that in those days when we planned to sabotage or attack the British, our cause was justified because we were fighting for the country.

Today the youth lack aim and motive. They merely blow up trains, kill innocent people and fall prey to misleading religious fanaticism. Everything is wrongly politicised.

The youth of today need to learn from the youth of our time.” According to Das, Vinay has done a superlative job in the film. “Vinay is fantastic in the film. How good he is can’t be expressed in words.

I have quite a few clippings and photos of him from the film. Looking at them, I sometimes can’t believe that he’s not me. He put in a lot of efforts to look similar to me,” says Das on a concluding note.

GOUR HARI DASTAAN also stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Ranvir Shorey and Tannishtha Chatterjee in pivotal roles.