Mumbai, Mar 4 (IANS): Actor Randeep Hooda, who is gearing up for his upcoming directorial debut 'Swatantrya Veer Savarkar', has said that his film is not a propaganda.

The actor shared that it’s actually the antidote to the propaganda against freedom fighter and politician Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

The actor, who stars in the film in the titular role, spoke with the media on Monday at the film’s trailer launch event at a multiplex in the Juhu area of Mumbai.

Randeep opined as he told the media that the public perception of Savarkar has been heavily skewed owing to propaganda against him.

The actor said: “This is an anti-propaganda film. It will counter all the propaganda against Savarkar that has been going on since decades. He was not a ‘maafiveer’ (apologist). Not only him, many other people too wrote mercy petitions at the time. I have addressed this very extensively in the film”.

“There were petitions and bail pleas. It's the right of any prisoner. If anyone has been to a court, they would know how the court is addressed. He was lodged in cellular jail, he wanted to get out of there and contribute to the country culturally and politically. He did whatever he could to come out and contribute to the country,” he added.

Randeep further mentioned that Savarkar was at the helm of secret societies in India for the armed struggle for Independence, and that Savarkar is finally getting free from the jails of perception and people will now get to know his true story with his film.

“There have been films on Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and many others. The US has made ‘Oppenheimer’ based on the father of the atomic bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer. In our country we are shooting down our own icons,” he added.

'Swatantrya Veer Savarkar' will release in cinemas on March 22.