31st October

2015

1 hr. 49 min.

History

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Action

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5 Reviews

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Post the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh security guards, Devender Singh, a 'Sardar', tries to protect his family during the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.

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Audience Member

VIFF Review: "October 31st" believe it or not has nothing to do with Halloween or a white girl ordering a pumpkin spice latte. It's about the tragic true story that took place on October 31st, 2014 where Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her own body guards who happened to be of the Sikh religion. Because of this, every non Sikh in the land went out to hunt down and kill every Sikh that they could find and this lasted for several days. The movie follows a Sikh family and their struggle for survival through the catastrophe. Sounds like it would be a fantastic movie right? Not quite. Though the story itself is actually quite entertaining and it captures the tragedy on the big screen well, it has a lot of problems in the production area where if they only had a larger budget, they could have really nailed it out of the park. This would normally be a small issue, but the production problems in this film are large and distracting to the point that it really takes you out at a lot of moments. From the horrid sound design and sound editing that is hilarious, cheesy film editing and effects, and some bad dialogue here and there, it all effects the film very negatively. I hope someone can come back with a larger budget and make this story really come to life sometime in the future! With all that being said though, the vioence is intense at parts with mobs literally beating and burning people in the streets and their homes. It also has a pretty good score, and pretty good performances throughout, so I am definitely recommending this one, just don't expect greatness or even a particularly good film. I'm also recommending this film for the scene where a small character grabs a cigarette and "Smoking and liquor kills" appears on the left hand side of the screen for a solid 2 minutes as the guy smokes and drinks. Not even smoking and alcohol will harm your health, they "kill".

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

21st October is the Hindi language portrayal of the events of the Sikh genocide of 1984 that occurred after the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Played at the 2015 Vancouver International Film Festival, the movie follows the lives of a Sikh family who get caught up in the ever deteriorating situation in their neighbourhood in Delhi. The first thing that you will notice is the flimsiness of the plot and quite frankly the acting as well. The acting is done in a way that the actors are trying to "act the hell out of it". So all you notice is the actors very cheery while they speak (as if they're on camera for the first time) for the first half of the film, and then so forcefully emotional to a point where it is cringe worthy to watch. It's not to say there isn't a well known actor in the movie, as Soha Ali Khan (Dil Maange More) plays the mother but that absolutely does not redeem the film. There is an unbelievable amount of indulgence (close to Tarantino-esque) with the camera continually panning over the dead bodies in the houses and streets and lingering on them for far longer than they should have. Now, the only thing that can be said about the plot is the crazed propaganda behind the movie, which if you don't notice it during the movie; you'll surely know by the time the helpful footnotes at the end of the movie play. There is a movie to be made about the 1984 genocide as it's a very important subject for the people of Indian and those abroad, and honestly for the rest of the world. But this movie is definitely not that movie. I will give it a generous grade of a D

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Shivaji Lotan Patil

Director

Vir Das

Davinder Singh

Soha Ali Khan

Tajinder Kaur

Raj Saluja

Luvleen

Lakhwinder

Yogesh

Vineet Sharma

Tilak

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Namrata Joshi

The Hindu

The ominous knock on the door doesn't feel threatening enough and the scenes of rioting are most artlessly realised without any profundity or subtlety.

Jul 24, 2018

Full Review

Rahul Desai

Film Companion

Most of the film is shot at night, when the rage of vengeful riotous gangs is palpable. Yet, the images are tacky, and it almost seems like none of the actors' real voices have been used.

Rated: 1.5/5

Feb 6, 2019

Full Review

Rachit Gupta

Filmfare

Anyone watching this film will have to settle for its intentions alone. Everything else in this melodramatic overdose is genuinely embarrassing.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 30, 2017

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Nandini Ramnath

Scroll.in

We need more films on this dark chapter in Indian history, but not the likes of 31st October.

Oct 21, 2016

Full Review

Ken Eisner

Georgia Straight

The attempt to personalize the story, however, is strictly B-movie stuff, with tacky zooms, wooden acting, an action-movie soundtrack, and generic dialogue cheapening the impact of a too-true story that still has daily repercussions.

Sep 25, 2015

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Synopsis

Post the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh security guards, Devender Singh, a 'Sardar', tries to protect his family during the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.

Director: Shivaji Lotan Patil
Screenwriter: Basant Kashyap, Harry Sachdeva, Amit Tuli
Genre: History, Drama, Mystery & Thriller, Action
Original Language: Hindi

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