Prime Video India dropped the trailer for ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’ — a period drama film based on the life and legacy of freedom fighter Usha Mehta — starring Sara Ali Khan.

Directed by Kannan Iyer, the film explores a young Usha Mehta’s brave journey of establishing a secret underground radio station, which played a crucial role in India’s freedom struggle.

Born on 25 March, 1920, in Saras, near Surat, Gujarat, Usha met Mahatma Gandhi as a child. Idolising him throughout her life, she was deeply influenced by Gandhian thought and philosophy.

Growing up with her father serving as a judge under the British Raj posed challenges for Usha’s involvement in the freedom struggle.

When her father retired in 1930, the family relocated to the then Bombay, where Usha attended Chandaramji High School. After finishing her schooling and earning a degree in philosophy, she pursued studies in law.

In the years that followed, tension grew and the Indian National Congress stepped up its demand for poorna swaraj or complete independence.

The Quit India Movement was officially launched on 9 August, 1942. During this period, the British arrested over one lakh protestors in an attempt to suppress the movement. Amid the gloom, Usha’s words, “This is the Congress Radio calling on [a wavelength of] 42.34 metres from somewhere in India,” sparked a ray of hope in the country.

The radio broadcasted messages from Gandhi and other prominent leaders, and national songs across the country.

During British oppression and censorship of the vernacular press, this underground station’s messages united people, offering hope, strength, and encouragement to persist in their protest. Ushaben and her team regularly changed the station’s location to avoid detection by authorities, moving it almost every day.

Despite the utmost care to maintain secrecy, the Congress Radio functioned for just about 88 days as Usha and her associates were arrested due to the betrayal of a technician.

Usha was jailed for four years as she would not answer any questions or give up the movement. She was later released in 1946, but her health had deteriorated, preventing her from participating in the Independence Day celebrations the following year.

In free India, she resumed her education and continued to spread the Gandhian message. In 1998, she was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest civilian award by the Government of India.

Patriotic till the end, Usha Mehta breathed her last on 11 August, 2000. However, her voice and her work will echo her Gandhian idealism for posterity.

.