Surendra Rajan's version of Gandhi as "a faintly ridiculous poseur, whose policies play directly into the hands of the British" and in that aspect, he was very different from "the serene sage" portrayed by Ben Kingsley in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982). Like Diwanji, Elley also notes how the film denounces Gandhi by blaming him "for not trying very hard" to prevent Bhagat's execution. Box office The Legend of Bhagat Singh had an average opening in its first week, grossing 57.1 million (US$1.18 million in 2002) worldwide, with 33 million (US$684,221 in 2002) in India alone. The film failed to cover its budget thus underperforming at the box office, collecting only 129.35 million (US$2.68 million in 2002) by the end of its theatrical run. Shubhra Gupta of Business Line attributed the film's commercial failure to its release on the same day as 23rd March 1931: Shaheed, opining that "the two Bhagats ate into each other's business". Accolades At the 50th National Film Awards, The Legend of Bhagat Singh won the Best Feature Film in Hindi and Devgn received the Best Actor award. The film received three nominations at the 48th Filmfare Awards and won three—Best Background Score (Rahman), Best Film (Critics) (Kumar Taurani, Ramesh Taurani) and Best Actor (Critics) (Devgn). Legacy Since its release, The Legend of Bhagat Singh has been considered one of Santoshi's best works. Devgan said in December 2014 that The Legend of Bhagat Singh along with Zakhm (1998) were the best films he ever worked on in his career. He also revealed he had not seen such a good script since. In 2016, the film was included in Hindustan Timess list of "Bollywood's Top 5 Biopics". The Legend of Bhagat Singh was added in both the SpotBoyE and The Free Press Journal lists of Bollywood films that can be watched to celebrate India's Independence Day in 2018. The following year, Daily News and Analysis and Zee News also listed it among the films to watch on Republic Day. See also List of artistic depictions of Mahatma Gandhi Notes References Film External links Official website 2000s Hindi-language films 2000s biographical films 2002 films Best Hindi Feature Film National Film Award winners Cultural depictions of Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural depictions of Mahatma Gandhi Films about Bhagat Singh Films directed by Rajkumar Santoshi Films featuring a Best Actor National Award-winning performance Films scored by A. R. Rahman Films set in 1931