Friday 3 May 2013

Sikhs At Sandhurst - nearing completion

It's nearly a year since we embarked on creating a new film for the "Sikhs At War" project.

"Sikhs At Sandhurst" is about the hidden history of Sikhs which can be found at the Royal Military Academy, one which not many know about apart from the officers who are trained there.

It tells the story of the first person of Sikh decent to have been accepted there - Victor Duleep Singh - the son of the last Maharaja of Punjab.

Victor's story is fascinating, as he is the product of British Sikh integration.  He lived a Christian life, and hisis life was as colourful as could be for a Victorian gent! 

The new film touches upon Victor's time at Sandhurst - and how he should not have been allowed to go to Sandhurst.

It delves into the history of Sikhs who served during Empire, and how their contribution in the frontier with Afghanistan is remembered to this day.

In fact, it fits in perfectly with my other research venture at the moment - the story of Saragarhi.

For me, the Sikh effort on the frontier is an epitome of the valiant and invaluable contribution Sikhs made during empire.  Which was so fruitful that the British (indeed the world) reaped the rewards in the Great War and WW2.

Back to the production, and editing took a lot longer than we would have liked, due to some technicality but is now nearly completion due to the hard work and 'never say quit' attitude of my fantastic editor Juggy.

"Sikhs At Sandhurst" will be released soon ... if you'd like to access it for your film festival / event / screening, it runs 20 mins long and you can contact us via this email.

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