During 1896-97, there was an outbreak of plague in Pune. Marital law was imposed. There was intense popular resentment against Mr.Rand, the British Plague Commissioner due to his harsh measures for forcibly evacuating the people. An agitated Damodar Chapekhar and his two brothers, militant followers of Tilak, decided to take revenge. They killed Mr.Rand at night while he was returning from the Govt. House after participating in the 60th anniversary celebrations of Queen Victoria's Coronation, held on June 22, 1897. A massive manhunt was launched with former colleagues as informers. Damodar was hanged, despite Tilak's personal appeal to the British. When the youngest brother, Vasudev, killed the informer, he and the remaining brother Balkrishna, were also hanged. The Chapekar brothers were among the first martyrs of India's Freedom Struggle. The Chapekar brothers were among the first martyrs of India's Freedom Struggle. A historic film and winner of two National and two State awards, 22nd June 1897 has an illustrious crew behind its making. With dialogues by Vijay Tendulkar and screenplay co-written by Shankar Nag, the film was the directorial debut of the husband-wife duo of Nachiket and Jayoo Patwardhan