Briefly analyzes the darker theme of Rustom.

1. The Camouflaged Theme of Akshay Kumar’s ‘Rustom’
Shantanu Basu
I watched Akshay Kumar’s ‘Rustom’ this afternoon. The movie was slick, fast-paced, great
background music, limited but good lyrics, flashbacks appropriately interspersed in the court
hearings and reasonably good creation of Mumbai of the 1950s. The Sindhi-Parsee communal
hostility of this case was also captured quite well. Russi Karanjia’s Blitz title “Three Shots That
Shook the Nation” barely disguised his identity and jacking of prices of his scandalous tabloid as
this case progressed. Was the prosecution lawyer, young Ram Jethmalani, again thinly
disguised?
There were many small failings, notably Akshay appearing in court in his naval regalia when he
should have been suspended from service. Ileana d’Cruz is just a sidekick cameo, just to cover
for Cynthia (Sylvia in real life). Akshay, like his previous movies like the jaali CBI one (I forget
the name), anchors the movie superbly and looks good but for an evident age mismatch with
Ileana.
However, what was intriguing was the weaving of a scam relating to the purchase of an aircraft
carrier for the Indian Navy from the UK, one that involved the FOC, WC and even the Union
Defense Secretary. There is a scene in which the WC’s Provost Marshal requests the court for
Rustom’s custody but he refuses and sensibly opts for police custody instead.
Coincidentally, India’s decision to buy a never commissioned INS Hercules (later Vikrant) after
it lay in the dock for over a dozen years happened in 1957 whereas the Nanavati case happened
in 1959. The infiltration of the Defense Ministry by middlemen like Vikram (Prem Ahuja in real
life), disguised in the movie as a fabulously rich automobile dealer, figure prominently in the
movie, although just in one scene.
VK Krishna Menon, indicted in scams over the purchase of the Indian High Commission’s
Aldwych building in London and the jeep case, was Defense Minister (1957-62) when INS
Vikrant and INS Mysore were purchased from UK. It is also interesting that Nanavati was the
second-in-command of INS Mysore (shown in the movie) to Captain (later Admiral) SM Nanda
who, post-retirement, was one of India’s most successful foreign munition representatives.
Indubitably, Nanavati would have been involved in the closing stages of completion of INS
Mysore for which he spent several months in UK as shown in the movie when his wife was
making merry with Prem Ahuja. Was the ship in the movie therefore, INS Mysore that joined the
Indian Navy in Mumbai on Sep. 29, 1957 or the INS Vikrant (Nov 3, 1961), or both?
The closing scenes of Rustom confirm that Cynthia’s (Sylvia) ensnaring by an arms middleman
in Rustom's absence from India was part of a larger conspiracy to blackmail Rustom and prevent
him from standing in the way of the purchase of the aircraft carrier and more ships (mentioned
by Vikram in passing in a scene), among other ongoing defense deals.
The manner in which Vijaylakshmi Pandit, then Governor of Bombay State, manipulated
Nanavati’s exoneration by shrewdly clubbing it with an appeal for clemency of a Sindhi
businessman also sentenced, like Nanavati, to a life term is equally intriguing. Nanavati’s

2. acquaintance with the Nehrus was well-known. Incidentally, Vijaylakshmi Pandit took delivery
of INS Mysore as India’s High Commissioner in the UK, although this may not have had any
direct connect with the Nanavati case later.
The skillful narration of Rustom and the underlying darker anti-national theme seems to have
been missed by film critics and the media too. If it was the intent of scriptwriter and the director
to have used the Nanavati case to camouflage malfeasance in the nation’s largest defense deals,
they succeeded brilliantly in their endeavor.
I strongly recommend Rustom for those of my FB friends who may not have watched it so far.
The author is a senior public policy analyst and commentator.