India was considered the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, the Raj. From early 1600s up until mid-1900s, Indians nationals were denied the basic rights of human beings, freedom, liberty & self-governance. Beginning in the early 1900s, the landscape began to change however. An intense desire for national self-determination gave way to a freedom movement that altered and shaped the minds, intellect and the very lives of every Indian living during that era. A movement was set in motion that united millions of Indians. Led by a few good men and women, an innovative resistance, fight back really, began to take shape that defied the most stubborn of bureaucrats, the cruelest of Generals, and the most powerful nation in the world.

In spite of this glorious past, current-day India appears to be in an identity crisis. In their pursuit of who they want to become and what they want to become, they appear to be forgetting who they are and where they came from. Are there lessons from the past that present day Indians can learn from? Is there power in the past to bring harmony for the present? More critically, can we harness the power and wisdom of the past to inspire India’s future?

It is this curiosity that has given birth to Arise Free India (AFI). AFI wants to capture and document the personal stories and accounts of brave individuals, octogenarians many of them, who made history with their involvement in the Indian freedom movement. Further, AFI intends to make a documentary film connecting their stories for a renewed, contemporary examination of the events leading to India’s independence in 1947.