Name: Shatak
Genre: Drama, Historical, Social
Released: 2026-02-20
Rating: 6.0
Cast: Aashish Mall

Tracing the hundred-year journey of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, exploring its origins, growth, and influence over time. The film looks at the organisation’s evolution from its early years to its role in shaping social and cultural narratives in modern India.

Shatak

Times of India

News18

History, as we know, rarely exists in a singular version. Shatak sets out to foreground a narrative that it believes has not received sufficient mainstream attention. Beginning in the early 1900s, director Aashish Mall, along with writers Anil Agarwal, Utsav Dan and Rohit Gehlot, transports viewers to a time when India was firmly under British rule and a silent ideological churn was gathering momentum. At the centre of this retelling is Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, later known as Doctorji, whose disciplined vision and unwavering commitment to nationhood laid the foundation of the RSS. As the story progresses, a young and scholarly Madhav Sadasiva Golwalkar aka Guruji, steps in to carry that legacy forward.
The film’s primary objective is clear: to document the role the RSS claims to have played during the freedom struggle and in the decades that followed Independence. Portraying the organisation as distinct from electoral politics, the narrative unfolds in a largely chronological fashion, tracing key developments across its century-long existence. Structurally, Shatak adopts a hybrid format, blending dramatised recreations with advanced AI-generated imagery and high-end computer graphics. This technological approach brings historical personalities to life — from Veer Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani — lending the film a visually ambitious scale.
However, the density of information often overwhelms the narrative, especially in the first half, which feels compressed and montage-like in its pacing. The latter half settles into a steadier rhythm, offering more anchored moments of ideological positioning and key historical moments. It also adopts a sharper tone in its portrayal of the Congress party, framing the RSS’s journey as one marked by resistance and adversity. While the extensive use of technology adds polish and spectacle, it occasionally distances the viewer emotionally, with recreated performances appearing convincing in form but lacking deeper human resonance.
Monty Sharma’s music emerges as a standout element, delivering stirring patriotic compositions that amplify the film’s thematic intent and emotional undercurrents.
Ultimately, Shatak is a technically superlative documentary that attempts to spotlight an organisation and its leaders through a distinctly reverential lens, recreating the era with remarkable visual finesse. Given the layered and contested nature of India’s historical memory, whether the film registers as a patriotic chronicle or ideological advocacy will depend largely on the viewer’s own perspective.

'Shatak' is a brilliant film that uses modern technology, VFX, and CGI to trace the historical journey of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over a century. The film beautifully depicts how a small idea, started in Nagpur in 1925, grew into a banyan tree. Directed by Ashish Mall, the film closely traces the organization's struggles, from the era of Dr. Hedgewar to the era of Shri Guruji and the horrific events of Partition. If you want to understand India's modern history and the evolution of an ideology, this film is a must-see.
'Shatak' isn't just a historical film or a promotion of an organization. It's a film that salutes the power of faith, patience, and commitment, one that believes in working quietly rather than making noise. While the film may avoid difficult questions, it firmly grasps the fundamental answers needed to build a nation. By the film's final scene, the viewer not only understands the history of the first fifty to one hundred years, but also feels it. Overall, you can watch this film with your entire family.

Shatak - Official Trailer | In Cinemas on 20th February

Shatak

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