Time for Freedom: Indian Independence Day

By Sarah in News on Aug 16, 2005 2:23AM

Today is Independence Day in India and Pakistan. In 1947, the independent nations of India and Pakistan were born after a decades-long struggle for freedom against colonial rule. Finally it was time to shout: The British Are Leaving! The British Are Leaving! Chicagoland's Independence Day celebrations will take place tomorrow, Tuesday the 16th, at Daley Plaza downtown, from noon to 3pm. Join the celebrants for food, vendors, and speeches galore. Hopefully someone will recite Jawaharlal Nehru's famous goosebump-inspiring midnight speech.

To get your revolutionary groove on, and to learn a tiny bit about what was so screwy about British rule in the first place, check out the much-awaited Bollywood histo-pic The Rising. This dazzling film was produced by (and stars, luckily for us!) Bollywood super-hunk Aamir Khan. (You may remember him from such films as Lagaan). The Rising tells the story of Mangal Pandey, the Indian soldier in the British army who is credited with starting the 1857 "Sepoy Mutiny" (known in South Asian and punk rock circles as the First War of Independence).

We're sure you'll love this almost-history lesson, rounded out with gorgeous dancing-girls, mud-wrestling, "heaving bosoms," musical numbers, and the disconcertingly hot Aamir Khan as Mangal Pandey (pictured here, in the massive moustache) on his unwavering commitment to freedom and justice.

Happy Birthday to India and Pakistan. Congratulations on your hard-won freedom. We'll see your peeps over samosas at Daley Plaza.

The Rising is playing way-way out in Schaumburg at the Streets of Woodfield movie theater, daily 1:00, 4:00, 7:10, 10:05pm.