During the freedom struggle, Shah had launched revolts in the Awadh region. He made the local mosque, Masjid Sarai, located in Chowk area of Faizabad his headquarters. As he liberated Faizabad and larger part of Awadh region, he used the premises of this mosque to hold meetings with rebel leaders.
'The summer of 1857 saw violence, perpetrated by the Indians and the Britons, on an unprecedented scale.' 'Never before and never after in the history of British rule in India was there violence at the level that 1857 witnessed.'
'A historical with an identity crisis, initially the period drama cannot decide whether it wants to chronicle facts or fictionalise them in the tradition of a crowd-pleasing fantasy,' says Sukanya Verma.
John Lang represented Rani Laxmibai in her legal battle against the East India Company to prevent the British from annexing her kingdom of Jhansi. Rediff.com's Archana Masih on a maverick Aussie who spent 22 years in India and became a friend in its dark days of bondage.